Sorry unicorns, but you might as well give up now. You're just horses with horns stuck on your heads. Dragons are much better in the fantasy animal department, what with being huge lizards that breathe fire and all. Cue the expensive, special effects-laden film you might have seen at the cinema this summer, and now this Game Of The Movie for your faithful Xbox.

Neatly, and unlike the film, the game lets you see the conflict from both sides of the story. One half of the game puts you in charge of a variety of human combat vehicles, and sees you tearing about ruined landscapes filling dragons with lead and missiles, courtesy of a mean-looking collection of gun turrets. The other puts you in charge of one of the overgrown lizards themselves - these missions allow you to fly about, raining napalm death upon puny humans.

Good idea, we think you'll agree. Sadly, the execution isn't of the same quality, resulting in a rather underwhelming game. The main problem with the human missions is the control of the vehicles. In theory, the 'advanced' control setup allows the player to manoeuvre their vehicle with the Left thumbstick and aim the gun turret with the Right. The problem is, steering the vehicle is very erratic. The 'simple' control setup, meanwhile, requires you to aim with the Left stick and accelerate with the face buttons. This time, the vehicle responds pleasingly quickly to the direction of the turret - but aiming with the Left stick's a pain for those who are used to using the Right one in games. You can't win.

The upshot is that you feel detached from the action as your ride pings about all over the shop. Just steering it through a gate can be a nightmare, as the unintuitive controls lead you to irritatingly bounce off the sides. Trying to keep a target in the turret's sights while moving is next to impossible.

Another complaint is that there are far too many missions that require you to protect others - difficult when just looking after yourself is so needlessly problematic. Feeling like an impotent learner driver in the midst of battle is not fun.

The dragon sections fare better, but the lizards are still quite awkward to control - especially when trying to pick up humans to drop them on the floor. Still, there are some enjoyable moments in these levels.

However, getting to the dragon part requires struggling through a fair few unfriendly human missions. It's a shame - Reign Of Fire boasts many components that could have made for an enjoyable blast, but it's ruined by unpleasant controls. A fair number of glitches - out of place speech, enemies running through walls, and so on - also mean this isn't what it could have been.

1. Playing as both races is a good idea
2. Squash humans!

1. Awkward controls
2. There are too many protection missions
3. No sense of involvement

Power
Plenty going on, and nice fire effects - but a little choppy and glitchy at times.

Style
The mood of the film is captured well - but this does mean it's all a bit grey and brown.

Immersion
Unfortunately it's hard to get into the action, thanks to the frustrating contros...

Lifespan
...so it's likely you'll give up on it before you've had a chance to see all the missions.

Power
Plenty going on, and nice fire effects - but a little choppy and glitchy at times.

Summary
Could have been an enjoyable blast, but awkward controls and a glitchy, unfinished feel mean the potential is wasted.