Contributed by: Whitney Meers
As a longtime video game enthusiast, I’ve never felt generationally removed from any aspect of gaming – not with Nintendo DS (I’m from the GameBoy era), not Wii, not even the virtual insanity that is Tony Hawk’s Ride, which I had the opportunity to experiment with at E3. So why does it take a child’s game to make me feel like I’m too old to be playing?
Read on for the review!
Wallace and Gromit’s empire has spawned short films, movies, and video games, and has consequently caused the lovable British duo to become international icons. And with high quality imagery, they’re a lot of fun to watch, to boot.
The episode three story line tells the tale of some naughty-but-adorable hounds who break free from the local puppy shelter and ransack the town. It’s up to Gromit to figure out what’s going on, and to rescue all the puppies. But it becomes obvious that there’s more going on than just feral pups when a man named Mr. Muzzle comes to town, poised to solicit charitable donations to help the puppies. As the story unravels, we find that Mr. Muzzle’s ethics have — well — gone to the dogs.
Great graphics. Clear story line. Complicated challenges. Perhaps even too complicated, in some instances. The game forces the player to think like a child, which is something that I’ve been trying to grow away from for 15 years.
As a child, this type of gameplay all makes sense. Why not dip a golden handle into a bucket of paint? Or try 16 times to beat a chicken at Tic Tac Toe, playing until you realize that there’s an item you need in order to pass the challenge? When you’re a ten-year-old, you just kind of instinctively know this stuff. When you’re a twenty-five-year-old, you’re stuck wondering why you can’t figure out a story line that’s written for a ten-year-old.
Now, games shouldn’t be too easy. Easy isn’t fun – there needs to be some degree of challenge in order to call something a “game.” On the other hand, difficult and repetitive also isn’t fun. It’s frustrating. Like, throw your computer across the room frustrating. Like, “Gosh, aren’t video games supposed to be fun?” frustrating. While I never actually ended up getting frustrated enough to throw my computer across the room, I found that I lost interest in the game during the parts that seemed to drag on.
Admittedly, I have not followed Wallace and Gromit’s adventures since the inception of the two characters in 1989. Maybe as a fan, I would have been able to better appreciate the quirky story line and the intricate explanations. Maybe the challenges would have made more sense to me. Maybe I wouldn’t have had to channel my inner child to figure out the logical solution to every puzzle. But, as just a general person who enjoys a good game, I found the game as a whole unsatisfying. Luckily, it’s a rather short game, so I didn’t have to spend too many hours playing a game I found so-so.
For Wallace and Gromit devotees, this game is probably a must-have. For people like myself, your dollars might be better spent someplace else. In the amount of time it takes to finish the game, you could be drinking at the bar with the rest of the adults – and spending less cash.
Wallace and Gromit, Episode 3 is published by Telltale Games
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