Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
A good game, fortunately.
Tags: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Dec 2nd, 2004
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Adventure | No | ||
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Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are having a tough time. Not only has a mysterious fire destroyed their home and killed their parents, now they’ve been sent to live with their uncle, Count Olaf. As if his crazy hair wasn’t a dead giveaway, they soon learn that he is up to no good. It turns out that the reason he keeps having them do dangerous tasks is because he’s after their family fortune. After he retrieves them from a couple of other relatives and learns that the children’s deaths wouldn’t actually get him the fortune he’s after, his plan takes another (and decidedly more creepy) turn…
This game, based on the popular series of books (and, more specifically, the upcoming movie based on the books), puts you in the shoes of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny as they try to stay alive and one step ahead of evil Count Olaf. Each child has particular strengths that fit particular problems. Violet can invent things that help them, Klaus remembers everything he’s ever read, and Sunny has sharp teeth that can bite through just about anything (tree roots, lead pipes, that sort of thing).
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The game is a third-person adventure for the most part, with occasional side-scrolling action segments, and a couple of pseudo-first person shooter segments. The third-person sections of the game have the player controlling either Violet or Klaus, with the non-used character following along behind the controlled character. If a puzzle calls for using the other character, a quick button press performs the switch. Sunny rides around on Violet’s back, and can be called into action when needed as well. This character switching has been done before, but it doesn’t feel tacked-on here – it really does affect gameplay often. Of course, the game has been designed so each character has to be used to finish the game.
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A majority of the missions are of the “find these three or four elements” somewhere in the level so that Violet can invent something that will help them get past some hazard so they can escape from Count Olaf. Along the way, Klaus might need to get rid of a bunch of rats in their way and Sunny might have to complete a side-scrolling quest to unlock a door for them to get through. The game builds on previous levels, so once Violet has invented something, the children can use it in the levels that follow. My favorite invention would have to be the propeller shoes she makes for Klaus out of two fan blades and some batteries. Good times.
This is a good game, overall. The environments have a twisted-Victorian feel to them, and the graphics are clear and allow the environments to be fully appreciated. The control scheme is simple, allowing the game’s target audience to jump right in and play. Onscreen directions guide players the first time a new action is needed. My only wish is that the right thumbstick-controlled camera could have been set to inverse, but it shouldn’t be a deterrent to most players.
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There are puzzle pieces hidden throughout the levels that, when enough are collected, open up bonus materials like pictures from the movie and behind-the-scenes on creating the video game.
The characters are voiced by their movie counterparts, including Count Olaf being voiced by a surprisingly subdued Jim Carrey. In fact, he was so subdued that I needed to check the credits to make sure it was actually him doing the voice. That’s not a bad thing, I was just surprised by it. The voice highlight of the game, though, is the narrator, Tim Curry. His delivery is perfect and highly enjoyable on both the between-level cut scenes and the comments he makes during levels. Casting him was a great decision.
The cutscenes are actually one of only a few problems I have with the game. Instead of being actual cut scenes using the in-game engine or pre-rendered or even clips from the move, they are more like sketches that get filled in while the narrator is talking. While it’s a neat effect once or twice, it would have been neat to see some actual cutscenes between levels.
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The other, bigger problem I have with the game is that occasionally the goals of the level aren’t clear. While there is an option on the pause screen to see what your current goal is, it doesn’t give you any hints as to how to go about accomplishing the goal. Again, most of the levels are similar “collect things” levels, but every so often there’s a level that asks you to do something different, and it’s not immediately evident how to do that something different.
Overall, though, I think this is a great game for kids. Older gamers will find it too easy and are most likely not interested in the subject matter anyway. Younger gamers who are fans of the books (and of the movie, of course) will certainly enjoy this game. But, as the narrator will tell you right off the bat, just don’t expect a happy ending.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Good use of all three lead characters + Rich environments + Tim Curry as the narrator |
7.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Occasionally confusing goals - Lack of cutscenes |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| More licensed games should show this level of inventiveness (pun certainly intended). | |
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Tags: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Dec 2nd, 2004 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
