Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The best way to eat your vegetables
Tags: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 1st, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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A little over a month ago, I reviewed the PS2 version of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Ultimately, I decided that, while it is a decent game and a fitting representation of the film it’s based on, the game was short on fun and had some technical issues. Now, I’ve gotten my chance to look at the Xbox version of the title, and while it is the same game, the difference between the two versions really shows.
Naturally, this difference is in the graphics. Where the PS2 version had framerate and slowdown issues, in the Xbox version there’s none of that, and furthermore, the textures look a lot cleaner and the game has an overall look that’s much more crisp. Now, this title still isn’t particularly graphically impressive, but it’s no eyesore either, and it still has its fair share of nice graphical flourishes (everything is well-animated and does a good job of pulling off the “claymation” look). However, the Xbox does still have the camera problems that troubled the PS2 version, which requires a lot of babying and rarely feels like it’s in a good spot. Still, the Xbox version of the game generally fixes most of the technical issues the PS2 version had.
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For those that aren’t familiar with the game, it’s based on the film of the same name, which sees the titular Academy Award-winning duo protecting their town’s vegetable-loving populace from a massive infestation of bunnies, fending off the fiendish Victor Quartermaine, and dealing with a giant Were-Rabbit that’s so obviously Wallace (so afflicted after one of his inventions goes awry) that it’s not even worth me bothering to mark it as a spoiler.
If you haven’t seen the movie it’s worth a look, but I’d highly recommend you wait to play the game until you do. Not only does the game follow the film’s plot closely enough that it’ll spoil it for you, but it does so in such a way that it skips out on much of the film’s plot, making its story incoherent to anyone who hasn’t seen the movie. Really, this is a title that’s made for fans of the film and only fans of the film.
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The game itself is a mishmash of everything from Luigi’s Mansion (The game’s primary weapon is a vacuum) to Herdy Gerdy (You’ll often find that herding rabbits is more practical than dealing with them one at a time), with minigames that draw from numerous other titles like Splinter Cell and music-rhythm games, all in an world design that’s fairly open-ended, letting you take tasks as you like or run on to the next major goal. This wide variety of elements surprisingly weaves together pretty well, with none of it seeming particularly out of place, and in fact the game design generally seems very unique and original.
Unfortunately, this originality and inventiveness doesn’t always translate into fun, as the game quickly falls prey to the collectitis that’s infected platformers since Super Mario 64. And without any of the exploration of puzzle-solving that games in the genre tend to have to mix things up, completing goals generally feels more like work than fun, and that’s never a good sign.
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At the very least, the game does a good job catering to the fans, with characters all looking and acting appropriate for the Wallace and Gromit universe, and all of the voices reprised from the film (with the exception of Ralph Feinnes’ role as Quartermaine). The game mostly does justice to the license, although the extremely lacking (and largely nonexistent) soundtrack seems like a huge oversight. No Wallace and Gromit theme? What gives!?
In the end, this title has its fair share of flaws, but it succeeds at what it sets out to do, which is pleasing fans of the film. On the other hand, I’d almost go so far as to say it may alienate those that haven’t seen the movie, but really, if you haven’t seen it, you probably should anyways.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Lots of original gameplay elements that all work well with each other + Very good voice-acting with actors reprising their film roles + It's Wallace and Gromit! + The Xbox version doesn't suffer from a lot of the technical issues that the PS2 version had |
7.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Game's story really depends on players having seen the film - Gameplay just isn't very fun - Camera problems - What's with the soundtrack (or lack therof)? |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This is the best version of this game, so if you're a Wallace and Gromit fan planning to get a copy, this is the one to get. If you're not a Wallace and Gromit fan (shame on you), then don't even bother, this game wasn't made for you. | |
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Tags: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Posted by Jake McNeill on Dec 1st, 2005 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.
