If a game based on a film is released, you can bet your granny’s falsies (teeth man, her teeth!) that it will smell like something dying, crawling into an already dead thing, to die a smelly death. That’s quite some smell.

But hold off on that can of air freshener for now (is that Meadow Fresh scent? With a hint of Jasmine? Nice), as there’s something quite surprising about Night At The Museum 2: it doesn’t smell.

We know, how can that be? It’s based on a silly film, which in itself is a poor sequel. And yet NATM 2 is... and we can’t believe we’re actually saying it, but... fun to play.

The game mimics the film fairly well. You play Ben Stiller’s character Larry Daley (voiced by Stiller himself) who, with the help of some of his friends from history, has to defeat the evil Kahmunrah. And that, in a prehistoric nutshell, is that.

So tell me, snake friend o' mine, do you think that's art?

The first thing you notice about the game is the lack of weapons at your disposal. This is due to the fact that there aren’t any. Larry has only his key chain and torch to get him through the game. Although that initially sounds like as much fun as a kid’s party round Gary Glitter’s house, it’s really all you need. The key chain swings to either retrieve items from high up, or to help get you higher up. The really cool thing is the torch though.

You see the magic tablet of Ahkmenrah gives your torch special powers (oh and your key chain the power to retrieve stuff), allowing you to interact with your environment in different ways. As Larry makes his way through the museums, he picks up powerful ingots that fit snugly into the tablet, allowing him the use of a different power. The Eye Of Horus illuminates hidden items; the Hammer & Chisel restores broken objects; Gear activates motorised vehicles; Paintbrush can bring certain statues and paintings to life, as well use them to teleport; Shield, well, shields, obviously; Animal tames and befriends wild animals; and Lightning allows bolts of lightning to be summoned.

It’s here where the game turns on the charm. Using the wiimote as a torch is a pretty natural feeling. And although at first, selecting the different ingots for different tasks appears overly complicated, it soon becomes second nature. Highlights include making paintings come alive, with the contents helping you out by attacking the villains; getting rhinos to do your bidding; and using the torch to find all manner of hidden items.

It’s something you just don’t expect from a game of a film tie-in – creativity. Not only that, but the cut scenes are done well and, quite frankly, the likes of Amelia Earhart and Teddy Roosevelt perform better in the game than their big-screen counterparts. The orchestrated music also helps set the magical mood of things coming to life just right.

Now the bad news. The one minor gripe is the control system for moving Larry around. At times it feels like moving a block of jelly; lining the character up for a bit of old-fashioned platform jumping can end up being more of a miss than hit affair. This feeling is multiplied a hundred fold during one section which sees Larry jumping around on the wings of planes in a giant hanger. It certainly couldn’t have been any worse playing the level blindfolded.

Also if you have friends, there’s no multiplayer option. And if you have no friends, there are no online options either. So, you’re pretty much on your own with this one.

Now for the major gripe. It’s incredibly short. If you’ve played at least one video game in your life, you can easily have it completed in two days. And that’s with plenty of breaks – for lunch, reading the papers, going out to see a film etc. It doesn’t help that the game (barring said control gripe, which probably isn’t intentional) is also very easy. Which makes the game, well, even shorter.

Which is a real shame as the game is not only unique as a film tie-in worth playing; it has a lot to offer in other areas too. For instance, there are little ‘factoids’ that pop up during loading times, which are fun; as are the exhibits on display that you can activate to find out more information about them. Don’t think of it as learning; think of it as saving you the time and trouble of having to get off the sofa and actually visiting a museum.

It has the kind of charm you get playing one of the Lego titles, which is quite a feat.

Perhaps the developers were squarely aiming this title at a young audience, one that enjoyed the films, and that hadn’t really played that many video games before. So for those four people in the world, this is the game for you.

With just a little bit more effort, this could have gone down in history as being the first ever really, really good game based on a film. Instead, sadly, it’s likely to be remembered for... nothing much at all.