This is no accident. The animators of The Mark of Kri are ex-Disney and ex-Don Bluth (Dragons Lair, The Land Before Time) animators, giving this game a very distinctive look. Set in a Maori-inspired world, this game gives the player the impression they are exploring a dark Polynesian jungle, dotted with ancient ruins. It's a world that provides a great setting for this third person adventure.

The story follows a young warrior named Rau. Rau has grown up in a small village, being trained to be a fighter by an older warrior called Baumusu. Around the countryside groups of bandits have started appearing and the game follows Rau's attempts to clear these bandits. His adventures lead him to an evil power collecting parts of an ancient spell that would bring darkness to the land.

If the story seems to be lacking a little originality the gameplay certainly isn't, and this is definitely where the game excels. Rau starts off with just a sword and his bare hands, and along the way will collect a bow, a taiaha and a battle axe. The close range weapons all operate in a similar fashion, but differ in the number of enemies that can be targeted and the damage each one can inflict.

The close range fighting system is great, and works well for this type of game. The left analogue stick can be used for targeting - press the stick in the direction of an opponent and the enemy is marked with either the square, x or circle button, or sweep the stick around to target multiple enemies at once. Once targeted the corresponding buttons can be pressed to make an attack. If only one enemy is targeted several different combos are possibly with the unassigned buttons. It's a system that works well later in the game where Rau is attacked by many enemies at once.

For longer range attacks the bow becomes available for Rau to take out opponents silently from a distance. The control of the bow is easy to master. After switching into first person perspective, the bow automatically locks on to an enemy within range, and Rau then has the choice of a body shot or a head shot. The bow can also be used as a close range weapon, using the targeting system for the other weapons.

The fighting is just part of this game though. Charging straight into an area will more often than not put Rau into a situation that he cannot escape from. Stealth is a very important part of the gameplay. Rau has a range of stealth attacks, which can take out up to two enemies without either of them knowing what is happening or others around them.

To help with maintaining stealth Rau has a bird named Kuzo. Kuzo can be sent ahead to scope out the area. When sent forward the view changes to a first person Kuzo view, which can then look around the area around the landing point, identifying the path ahead as well as spotting enemy locations. The enemies can also be identified by Kuzo with regards to what weapons each one is carrying, as well as showing which are horn blowers. Horn blowers can be important to spot. If they spot you they'll blow their horn, summoning even more enemies and quite often making the situation near impossible to survive.