Simpsons Game
XBOX 360
Apart from The Ghostbusters, one of my childhood favourites (and still is) are stuff from the Simpsons. So this week, I'll review this game that originally came out on the Playstation 2, but was ported over to the XBOX 360. Published by Electronic Arts in 2007.
I bought this game not because I knew it existed (I didn't), but because my 'mentor' at my place of internship recommended it to me. I hunted this game down on the local forums and bought it second hand for $20. Not bad for a game! I like buying games at $20.
Anyway, this is a 3rd person action-adventure game in which players control different characters throughout the game. There isn't a real storyline in this game: players traverse the town looking for both special tokens that unlock stuff, and special points of interest. At this point in the game, it pretty much reflects a beta version of Grand Theft Auto if it was made in the 90s.
As you enter one of these points of interest, the game will enter a short cutscene, and the game will 'formally' begin. The first mission is the one where you control Homer in his land of chocolate. Everything, from lampposts to bunnies, are covered in chocolate and naturally Homer would go all crazy and spastic. The overall mission objective would then be to follow the white chocolate rabbit, which Homer remembers as being in the storybook 'Snow White and stupid town'. After that compulsory tutorial/level, you are given free reign to explore both the town and the Simpson's place.
Art is excellent. I really really love how they managed to fit the game artwork into almost something like that in the television series. Everything is colourful and strong, and fits very well together.
Game design is great. I love how they made each level and the GTA-style mechanic they employ. Each 'formal' level is differently themed and is very varied. For instance, the player gets to control Bart in one of the level entitled 'Bartman Begins', which is a reference to Batman. In that level you have to recover an item which one of the enemies stole. Other levels have really funny references to them, like an EverQuest themed level, or one that is a gameshow that is exclusively about the different countries in the world. Each character also got has a different playing style and special attack: for Homer, his breath can kill enemies much quicker than his punches. For Bart, he can transform into Bartman and do stuff like gliding with cape.
For the most part, this game is all about references and jokes that a normal intelligent sentient being is able to understand. It is also probably one of the first game that references itself inside in the game (shown in an opening cutscene), which is really funny.
One of my pet peeves is the terrible camera control. Most games which employ a third person perspective tend to have lousier camera control than a game which doesn't employ one. In this game, perspective is almost non-existent and it is extremely difficult to gauge the distance between two platforms, and there is almost always a death involved when you try to jump the gap. Fortunately, lives are infinite and so the user can always try again. But it is really annoying to keep dying!
There is multiplayer support for this game. I bought this game because I wanted to exclusively play it with my younger brother. In co-op mode, players can still play the 'campaign' (for lack of better word) mode of the game together with their friends, so it is reaaaaaaaaaaallly great. For a game like the Simpsons, you HAVE to play it in co-op mode.
Overall I like this game a lot, if I were to compare it to the old arcade version, I would still say that the arcade version is a lot better (because of the 4 player co-op) but this one comes reallly close. It would have been higher if not for the camera control.
Rating: 8.5/10
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