Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is a cherished children's book from the 1960s that captured the imagination of young readers, and now, it is set to hit the silver screen in October. While it might seem odd to produce a full-length film, as well as a video game, based on a book that is about 10 sentences long, it's all about using your vivid imagination. We were able to play a short demo of Where the Wild Things Are to get an idea of the direction the game will take.

　　Make new furry friends on this magical island.

　　The demo began with Max, a young boy who never says a word and is dressed in a wolf suit sailing toward the island of the Wild Things. As soon as he touched land and jumped off the boat, we were in control, and the first thing we did was pick up a glowing scepter. With the glowing stick in hand, we proceeded to hit anything that looked like it would break--giant hives, flower bushes, or hollow logs. It was hard to tell what was going on in terms of the story, but Max seemed intent on following a bull-like creature that was stomping around on the beach--as if it were throwing a temper tantrum. As the massive bovine headed into the dense jungle, we followed it, climbing walls of ivy, jumping over ravines, and picking up skulls along the way. We did so only because the game kept track of how many skulls we collected.

　　Someone must have upset the hulking creature because it would smash hives that were housing some fat juicy fireflies, which would then come after us. With our scepter, we whacked them out of the way and continued until we reached an area where we met another looming fuzzy creature, but it was friendly creature named Carol, who despite the name, is very manly sounding. Carol took us on a short tutorial, instructing us to hit trees, boulders, and anything that got in our way. If we weren't able to knock it down, Carol would come running and use his big beastly hands to break any obstacle down. We came across water fruit trees with teardrop-shaped fruit, which you can pick up and toss onto other plants or dried vines to make them grow.

　　The last part of the demo involved riding on Carol's big head as he ran through the forest. You have to control your furry friend by getting him to jump over fallen trees or slide under them. You also have to time your movements carefully so that Carol doesn't get hit in the face because if he does, you'll take a nasty tumble and have to start from the last checkpoint. Once we got the timing down, it was easy to maneuver our way through the lush island. We liked this segment because it was fun and a bit more exciting than swatting bugs.

　　Fend off hostile creatures with your scepter.

　　We did learn that the story is inspired by the movie, but the events that take place here will be different. There will be minigames, power-ups, collectibles, and new abilities to learn as you go through the game. From our brief play time, the visuals look pretty good so far and the music seems to fit the mysterious, jungle setting. Since our time with the game was short, we'll keep you updated with more information as soon as it becomes available. Where the Wild Things Are is set to be released in October on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.