Game: Ratatouille
Genre: Rodent Adventure
Platforms: PC/Mac/GBA/DS/Wii/PS2/PSP/PS3/Xbox360 (reviewed on Xbox360)
Score: 6 out of 10
Im not sure exactly where to begin on this review. Actually, Im kind of ashamed to admit I went out of my way to pick this game up. You know, all of us hardcore gamers have to keep our tough as nails appearance. On one hand I might play a countless amount of hours taking the lives of virtual players on COD4, but there is also a softer side to this gamer: one that yearns to look at the world through the eyes of a child. One that likes to discover new things, and experience anything the gaming world can throw at him. So here I am Ratatouille in one hand, and a tissue for the tears of the, awe isnt that cute cut scenes in the other.
Ratatouille is a movie-based videogame, which usually Im not a big fan of. But I saved myself the grief this time, and opted not to see the movie before I played through the game. Without the story of the movie looming over my head I could look at the game with a fresh set of eyes instead of nitpicking it to death. Anyway, the game is based on the story of a rat named Remy who lives at a farmhouse in the French countryside with his brother and father. Remy is unlike any other rat though, his enhanced sense of smell, and appreciation for food, set him apart from the other rats in his colony. Shortly after your brother Emile gives you a tutorial, and shows you around the farm you reside at, you are sent off to complete some various tasks. These tasks can be anything from collecting items, to simply following your brother about. But your romp through the farm is short-lived, and the jig is up, for you, and your fellow rats. And as you head back to grab a cookbook that is in a window by the farmhouse, an old lady wearing a gasmask and packing a double-barreled shotgun kicks open her front door and a chase ensues. Running toward the screen in the chase scene trying to lose the old bag seems a bit awkward at first, but there is no time to dwell on camera angles as this motivated little old lady blasts buckshot at your backside. Finally after escaping the oppression of the little old lady, and her shotgun, you ride the cookbook you snagged earlier to the sewers of Paris. The sewer is your new home and your new base of operations. It might be a little wet down there, and the smell might not be that pleasant, but youre a rat, and its your home now. And this is where your adventure in a world much bigger than you begins.
The rest of the games missions are set in the sewer below the city. Each mission has its own separate pathway to the world above. One might lead you to the streets of Paris, while another will lead to Gusteaus kitchen, or the city market. Each mission you complete will respectively open another, and each task, or side-mission you complete, will bring about a small change to your new home. For instance, collecting light bulbs in one mission will add light to your dim sewer surroundings, while beating another will create a pathway to another area of the sewer, and a new mission to undertake. While there are only five levels to the game, they are huge, and some of the levels like Gusteaus kitchen are visited more than once in the course of the game. The levels also consist of various mini-games, hidden charms, and the occasional cat or lobster that shoot projectiles at you. Each enemy presents their own threat, so it is in your best interest to avoid these creatures like the plague you helped spread back in the fourteenth century.
Mini-games galore appear in this game. It almost seems like this is mainly what the game is comprised of. For every level theres like three mini-games each with three different levels of difficulty to them. Some will have you atop a ball squishing bugs, some will have you whipping vegetables with your tail, and some will be a timed race through different obstacles. But once you meet Linguini you can bet one of the mini-games in the kitchen will consist of you helping him cook. Each of these miniature games has its own cuteness to it that will make you say, awe isnt that special. But by the end of Ratatouille these cute games turn into virtual nightmares. I know, I had to take back the game before I got a sixty-point achievement for beating every mini-game in the damn thing: for fear of breaking a controller, the game, or my psyche.
By the end of the game, Ratatouilles cuteness, and impressive graphics wore off. There was nothing left but the games quirky controls, and last-gen perspective issues. For example the game was constantly plagued by not knowing exactly where you were going to land. Jumping from one obstacle to another would either result in a perfect landing, or Remy sailing completely over the object. In too many instances I felt like the game robbed me, and even on a 52 inch TV I could barely see Remys tiny little shadow that was supposed to aid me when navigating from one object to the next. This, in combination of my inability to move the camera in most of the timed mini-games was the perfect recipe for disaster. So I had to draw my line in the sand after I tried stage 3 of the timed conveyer mini-game for the fiftieth time. I heard four different annoying phrases like, oh well or Ill get it next time for two hours straight. This was enough to make anyone loose their marbles. I toughed it out though, and I beat the game as I usually do before I put up a review, but the frustration of the games mechanics and perspective issues left me wondering why I bothered in the first place.
After the fact:
The games graphics and character voice-overs were spot-on. The levels were huge and even sometimes a chore to navigate through because of their massiveness. If it werent for the camera issues and occasional glitch where Remy would slide doing a handstand, the game wouldve probably squeezed another point out of this gamer. As a whole the game is a good game to start your young ones off on. It will teach them all the basics of gaming and let them get used to navigating, jumping, and the basics of videogames. As for all the adults out there: youll get more enjoyment just sitting back and watching your kids play.
Genre: Rodent Adventure
Platforms: PC/Mac/GBA/DS/Wii/PS2/PSP/PS3/Xbox360 (reviewed on Xbox360)
Score: 6 out of 10
Im not sure exactly where to begin on this review. Actually, Im kind of ashamed to admit I went out of my way to pick this game up. You know, all of us hardcore gamers have to keep our tough as nails appearance. On one hand I might play a countless amount of hours taking the lives of virtual players on COD4, but there is also a softer side to this gamer: one that yearns to look at the world through the eyes of a child. One that likes to discover new things, and experience anything the gaming world can throw at him. So here I am Ratatouille in one hand, and a tissue for the tears of the, awe isnt that cute cut scenes in the other.
Ratatouille is a movie-based videogame, which usually Im not a big fan of. But I saved myself the grief this time, and opted not to see the movie before I played through the game. Without the story of the movie looming over my head I could look at the game with a fresh set of eyes instead of nitpicking it to death. Anyway, the game is based on the story of a rat named Remy who lives at a farmhouse in the French countryside with his brother and father. Remy is unlike any other rat though, his enhanced sense of smell, and appreciation for food, set him apart from the other rats in his colony. Shortly after your brother Emile gives you a tutorial, and shows you around the farm you reside at, you are sent off to complete some various tasks. These tasks can be anything from collecting items, to simply following your brother about. But your romp through the farm is short-lived, and the jig is up, for you, and your fellow rats. And as you head back to grab a cookbook that is in a window by the farmhouse, an old lady wearing a gasmask and packing a double-barreled shotgun kicks open her front door and a chase ensues. Running toward the screen in the chase scene trying to lose the old bag seems a bit awkward at first, but there is no time to dwell on camera angles as this motivated little old lady blasts buckshot at your backside. Finally after escaping the oppression of the little old lady, and her shotgun, you ride the cookbook you snagged earlier to the sewers of Paris. The sewer is your new home and your new base of operations. It might be a little wet down there, and the smell might not be that pleasant, but youre a rat, and its your home now. And this is where your adventure in a world much bigger than you begins.
The rest of the games missions are set in the sewer below the city. Each mission has its own separate pathway to the world above. One might lead you to the streets of Paris, while another will lead to Gusteaus kitchen, or the city market. Each mission you complete will respectively open another, and each task, or side-mission you complete, will bring about a small change to your new home. For instance, collecting light bulbs in one mission will add light to your dim sewer surroundings, while beating another will create a pathway to another area of the sewer, and a new mission to undertake. While there are only five levels to the game, they are huge, and some of the levels like Gusteaus kitchen are visited more than once in the course of the game. The levels also consist of various mini-games, hidden charms, and the occasional cat or lobster that shoot projectiles at you. Each enemy presents their own threat, so it is in your best interest to avoid these creatures like the plague you helped spread back in the fourteenth century.
Mini-games galore appear in this game. It almost seems like this is mainly what the game is comprised of. For every level theres like three mini-games each with three different levels of difficulty to them. Some will have you atop a ball squishing bugs, some will have you whipping vegetables with your tail, and some will be a timed race through different obstacles. But once you meet Linguini you can bet one of the mini-games in the kitchen will consist of you helping him cook. Each of these miniature games has its own cuteness to it that will make you say, awe isnt that special. But by the end of Ratatouille these cute games turn into virtual nightmares. I know, I had to take back the game before I got a sixty-point achievement for beating every mini-game in the damn thing: for fear of breaking a controller, the game, or my psyche.
By the end of the game, Ratatouilles cuteness, and impressive graphics wore off. There was nothing left but the games quirky controls, and last-gen perspective issues. For example the game was constantly plagued by not knowing exactly where you were going to land. Jumping from one obstacle to another would either result in a perfect landing, or Remy sailing completely over the object. In too many instances I felt like the game robbed me, and even on a 52 inch TV I could barely see Remys tiny little shadow that was supposed to aid me when navigating from one object to the next. This, in combination of my inability to move the camera in most of the timed mini-games was the perfect recipe for disaster. So I had to draw my line in the sand after I tried stage 3 of the timed conveyer mini-game for the fiftieth time. I heard four different annoying phrases like, oh well or Ill get it next time for two hours straight. This was enough to make anyone loose their marbles. I toughed it out though, and I beat the game as I usually do before I put up a review, but the frustration of the games mechanics and perspective issues left me wondering why I bothered in the first place.
After the fact:
The games graphics and character voice-overs were spot-on. The levels were huge and even sometimes a chore to navigate through because of their massiveness. If it werent for the camera issues and occasional glitch where Remy would slide doing a handstand, the game wouldve probably squeezed another point out of this gamer. As a whole the game is a good game to start your young ones off on. It will teach them all the basics of gaming and let them get used to navigating, jumping, and the basics of videogames. As for all the adults out there: youll get more enjoyment just sitting back and watching your kids play.
