Survivalist Bear Grylls’ Discovery Channel TV show Man vs. Wild — which sends him trekking through a different inhospitable wilderness in each episode — actually sounds like a great idea for a game. Skydiving into the Sahara or the frozen wastes of Patagonia with nothing more than a knife and a canteen isn’t a half-bad setup for an adventure, so it’s disappointing (if not surprising) that Man vs. Wild is short, linear, and filled with ho-hum minigames and quick-time events.

As Grylls (who also narrates the game), you’ll need to brave dangerous landscapes, animal attacks, and health-sapping extreme weather conditions in five wilderness areas. Dehydration and hunger are constant threats as well, and you’ll need to build shelters and fires to keep warm at night. However, almost all of these acts are accomplished when the game tells you to, through onscreen prompts and marked points of interest, removing any semblance of challenge. It’s not terrible, but not even the ability to make Grylls drink urine or hollow out a camel for shelter are enough to make it compelling.

On Xbox 360

+ Offers a decent variety of challenges across a decent set of environments.

- Minigames are more tedious than fun; proliferation of quick-time events over actual gameplay.

- Outdated graphics; repetitive music.

? Will we ever see a good reality-TV tie-in game?

5.0