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This thread has been linked to the game 'Planet 51'.
Planet 51
As Reviewed on the Xbox 360
Movie tie-ins rarely produce a fantastic title, with most of the game sales coming from the direct popularity of the film and the game retailers jumping on a popularity bandwagon and bundling them directly with the new consoles. I would like to say that Planet 51 bucks this trend. However, whilst I say it does not, I do have to state that it does offer a slight alternative to most straight from film game titles.
The game is set in the town of Glipforg on Planet 51 and is, as in the film, a site of an alien landing. When I say alien landing, I use it in the sense that this inhabited planet has a visitor from Earth, NASA Astronaut, Captain Charles ‘Chuck’ Baker... Planet 51 starts by the gamer playing some basic levels that capture the day-to-day life of the planet's inhabitants, mainly by playing as the character Lem - a young alien that seems to resemble the typical American teen. The paths of Lem and the alien human do cross within the game and the story unfolds.
What I found strange about the game is that it is an open world (or sandbox) exploration game. Most tie-ins tend to be linear and level based, where Planet 51 distinctly resembles a kids version of Grand Theft Auto (I guess along the lines of Simpsons Hit and Run). It follows a series of story-related missions that include races with the locals and even a Paperboy-style paper delivery game. These all need to be completed in order to finish the title. In addition to these compulsory missions is a huge selection of side missions - which help to bulk out the game a little. These side-missions include mowing the lawn for a wealthy neighbour, delivering yet more papers or partaking in a Destruction Derby-style demolition game. You can also expect a fair amount of collecting - but isn't that to be expected for a game aimed at children? Ok, so the missions may be a far cry away from the messy ones of Grand Theft Auto, but you can't expect it to be too taxing considering the target audience.
I will say that the missions can be actually fun to carry out. I would probably huff and puff if I needed to go out and cut the grass in this heat, but for some reason mowing a virtual lawn using a hover-mower (still can't quite see the logic in how it would cut the grass...but still, it's fiction!) seems much more exciting. Especially whilst trying to scare moles at the same time. However, there are about 10 levels on each task and unfortunately they all need to be completed in one sitting. As they can take up to 5 minutes each to complete, 10 sets will take nearly an hour of continuous play. As much as hover-mowing sounds fun at the outset, it does seem to get tedious after doing it for half an hour! If you could quit at the current level and return, it would definitely attract the more casual gamer.
Graphically, I wasn't expecting too much. Planet 51 does meet that expectation, but only due to the fact that all animated movie tie-ins produce the same kind of visuals. Not that it is a bad thing though - it does capture the same feel from the movie, so I'll give credit where credit is due. As for the audio, the sound effects are great and the music is from the film's soundtrack, so again, no issues as such. The only fault with the sounds is that the voice acting sounds very staged and, especially during the tasks, the same phrases are repeatedly overused. If you are easily annoyed. it may help to have the volume lowered when playing this one - the scenes are subtitled if this is the case.
The controls are responsive enough to be able to play easily, although sometimes it is felt there is a little too much under steer on the vehicles. The developers have come up with a great idea for the hover cars with this fault though - the vehicles can also strafe. Tricky to master strafing whilst racing, but get to grips with it and it does make the driving sections a little smoother to play. And believe me...you'll be doing a lot of driving...the consecutive missions tend to be opposite sides of the map!
One other flaw to pick out on the game is the issue of movement speed. Things tend to go from "tortoise climbing up a hill" slow to "Lewis Hamilton on an open motorway" fast. This huge differences in speed can make the races interesting, but for the most part, I found it annoying!
Overall Planet 51 is an average game with a few good features. There certainly isn't much to gawp at, but can act as a decent time-filler during times when nothing decent seems to be released. I would recommend buying it, unless of course you or your child love the film, but to the casual gamer, it may be just worth a rent.
58%
As Reviewed on the Xbox 360
Movie tie-ins rarely produce a fantastic title, with most of the game sales coming from the direct popularity of the film and the game retailers jumping on a popularity bandwagon and bundling them directly with the new consoles. I would like to say that Planet 51 bucks this trend. However, whilst I say it does not, I do have to state that it does offer a slight alternative to most straight from film game titles.
The game is set in the town of Glipforg on Planet 51 and is, as in the film, a site of an alien landing. When I say alien landing, I use it in the sense that this inhabited planet has a visitor from Earth, NASA Astronaut, Captain Charles ‘Chuck’ Baker... Planet 51 starts by the gamer playing some basic levels that capture the day-to-day life of the planet's inhabitants, mainly by playing as the character Lem - a young alien that seems to resemble the typical American teen. The paths of Lem and the alien human do cross within the game and the story unfolds.
What I found strange about the game is that it is an open world (or sandbox) exploration game. Most tie-ins tend to be linear and level based, where Planet 51 distinctly resembles a kids version of Grand Theft Auto (I guess along the lines of Simpsons Hit and Run). It follows a series of story-related missions that include races with the locals and even a Paperboy-style paper delivery game. These all need to be completed in order to finish the title. In addition to these compulsory missions is a huge selection of side missions - which help to bulk out the game a little. These side-missions include mowing the lawn for a wealthy neighbour, delivering yet more papers or partaking in a Destruction Derby-style demolition game. You can also expect a fair amount of collecting - but isn't that to be expected for a game aimed at children? Ok, so the missions may be a far cry away from the messy ones of Grand Theft Auto, but you can't expect it to be too taxing considering the target audience.
I will say that the missions can be actually fun to carry out. I would probably huff and puff if I needed to go out and cut the grass in this heat, but for some reason mowing a virtual lawn using a hover-mower (still can't quite see the logic in how it would cut the grass...but still, it's fiction!) seems much more exciting. Especially whilst trying to scare moles at the same time. However, there are about 10 levels on each task and unfortunately they all need to be completed in one sitting. As they can take up to 5 minutes each to complete, 10 sets will take nearly an hour of continuous play. As much as hover-mowing sounds fun at the outset, it does seem to get tedious after doing it for half an hour! If you could quit at the current level and return, it would definitely attract the more casual gamer.
Graphically, I wasn't expecting too much. Planet 51 does meet that expectation, but only due to the fact that all animated movie tie-ins produce the same kind of visuals. Not that it is a bad thing though - it does capture the same feel from the movie, so I'll give credit where credit is due. As for the audio, the sound effects are great and the music is from the film's soundtrack, so again, no issues as such. The only fault with the sounds is that the voice acting sounds very staged and, especially during the tasks, the same phrases are repeatedly overused. If you are easily annoyed. it may help to have the volume lowered when playing this one - the scenes are subtitled if this is the case.
The controls are responsive enough to be able to play easily, although sometimes it is felt there is a little too much under steer on the vehicles. The developers have come up with a great idea for the hover cars with this fault though - the vehicles can also strafe. Tricky to master strafing whilst racing, but get to grips with it and it does make the driving sections a little smoother to play. And believe me...you'll be doing a lot of driving...the consecutive missions tend to be opposite sides of the map!
One other flaw to pick out on the game is the issue of movement speed. Things tend to go from "tortoise climbing up a hill" slow to "Lewis Hamilton on an open motorway" fast. This huge differences in speed can make the races interesting, but for the most part, I found it annoying!
Overall Planet 51 is an average game with a few good features. There certainly isn't much to gawp at, but can act as a decent time-filler during times when nothing decent seems to be released. I would recommend buying it, unless of course you or your child love the film, but to the casual gamer, it may be just worth a rent.
58%
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Planet 51
As Reviewed on the Xbox 360
Movie tie-ins rarely produce a fantastic title, with most of the game sales coming from the direct popularity of the film and the game retailers jumping on a popularity bandwagon and bundling them directly with the new consoles. I would like to say that Planet 51 bucks this trend. However, whilst I say it does not, I do have to state that it does offer a slight alternative to most straight from film game titles.
The game is set in the town of Glipforg on Planet 51 and is, as in the film, a site of an alien landing. When I say alien landing, I use it in the sense that this inhabited planet has a visitor from Earth, NASA Astronaut, Captain Charles ‘Chuck’ Baker... Planet 51 starts by the gamer playing some basic levels that capture the day-to-day life of the planet's inhabitants, mainly by playing as the character Lem - a young alien that seems to resemble the typical American teen. The paths of Lem and the alien human do cross within the game and the story unfolds.
What I found strange about the game is that it is an open world (or sandbox) exploration game. Most tie-ins tend to be linear and level based, where Planet 51 distinctly resembles a kids version of Grand Theft Auto (I guess along the lines of Simpsons Hit and Run). It follows a series of story-related missions that include races with the locals and even a Paperboy-style paper delivery game. These all need to be completed in order to finish the title. In addition to these compulsory missions is a huge selection of side missions - which help to bulk out the game a little. These side-missions include mowing the lawn for a wealthy neighbour, delivering yet more papers or partaking in a Destruction Derby-style demolition game. You can also expect a fair amount of collecting - but isn't that to be expected for a game aimed at children? Ok, so the missions may be a far cry away from the messy ones of Grand Theft Auto, but you can't expect it to be too taxing considering the target audience.
I will say that the missions can be actually fun to carry out. I would probably huff and puff if I needed to go out and cut the grass in this heat, but for some reason mowing a virtual lawn using a hover-mower (still can't quite see the logic in how it would cut the grass...but still, it's fiction!) seems much more exciting. Especially whilst trying to scare moles at the same time. However, there are about 10 levels on each task and unfortunately they all need to be completed in one sitting. As they can take up to 5 minutes each to complete, 10 sets will take nearly an hour of continuous play. As much as hover-mowing sounds fun at the outset, it does seem to get tedious after doing it for half an hour! If you could quit at the current level and return, it would definitely attract the more casual gamer.
Graphically, I wasn't expecting too much. Planet 51 does meet that expectation, but only due to the fact that all animated movie tie-ins produce the same kind of visuals. Not that it is a bad thing though - it does capture the same feel from the movie, so I'll give credit where credit is due. As for the audio, the sound effects are great and the music is from the film's soundtrack, so again, no issues as such. The only fault with the sounds is that the voice acting sounds very staged and, especially during the tasks, the same phrases are repeatedly overused. If you are easily annoyed. it may help to have the volume lowered when playing this one - the scenes are subtitled if this is the case.
The controls are responsive enough to be able to play easily, although sometimes it is felt there is a little too much under steer on the vehicles. The developers have come up with a great idea for the hover cars with this fault though - the vehicles can also strafe. Tricky to master strafing whilst racing, but get to grips with it and it does make the driving sections a little smoother to play. And believe me...you'll be doing a lot of driving...the consecutive missions tend to be opposite sides of the map!
One other flaw to pick out on the game is the issue of movement speed. Things tend to go from "tortoise climbing up a hill" slow to "Lewis Hamilton on an open motorway" fast. This huge differences in speed can make the races interesting, but for the most part, I found it annoying!
Overall Planet 51 is an average game with a few good features. There certainly isn't much to gawp at, but can act as a decent time-filler during times when nothing decent seems to be released. I would recommend buying it, unless of course you or your child love the film, but to the casual gamer, it may be just worth a rent.
58%
As Reviewed on the Xbox 360
Movie tie-ins rarely produce a fantastic title, with most of the game sales coming from the direct popularity of the film and the game retailers jumping on a popularity bandwagon and bundling them directly with the new consoles. I would like to say that Planet 51 bucks this trend. However, whilst I say it does not, I do have to state that it does offer a slight alternative to most straight from film game titles.
The game is set in the town of Glipforg on Planet 51 and is, as in the film, a site of an alien landing. When I say alien landing, I use it in the sense that this inhabited planet has a visitor from Earth, NASA Astronaut, Captain Charles ‘Chuck’ Baker... Planet 51 starts by the gamer playing some basic levels that capture the day-to-day life of the planet's inhabitants, mainly by playing as the character Lem - a young alien that seems to resemble the typical American teen. The paths of Lem and the alien human do cross within the game and the story unfolds.
What I found strange about the game is that it is an open world (or sandbox) exploration game. Most tie-ins tend to be linear and level based, where Planet 51 distinctly resembles a kids version of Grand Theft Auto (I guess along the lines of Simpsons Hit and Run). It follows a series of story-related missions that include races with the locals and even a Paperboy-style paper delivery game. These all need to be completed in order to finish the title. In addition to these compulsory missions is a huge selection of side missions - which help to bulk out the game a little. These side-missions include mowing the lawn for a wealthy neighbour, delivering yet more papers or partaking in a Destruction Derby-style demolition game. You can also expect a fair amount of collecting - but isn't that to be expected for a game aimed at children? Ok, so the missions may be a far cry away from the messy ones of Grand Theft Auto, but you can't expect it to be too taxing considering the target audience.
I will say that the missions can be actually fun to carry out. I would probably huff and puff if I needed to go out and cut the grass in this heat, but for some reason mowing a virtual lawn using a hover-mower (still can't quite see the logic in how it would cut the grass...but still, it's fiction!) seems much more exciting. Especially whilst trying to scare moles at the same time. However, there are about 10 levels on each task and unfortunately they all need to be completed in one sitting. As they can take up to 5 minutes each to complete, 10 sets will take nearly an hour of continuous play. As much as hover-mowing sounds fun at the outset, it does seem to get tedious after doing it for half an hour! If you could quit at the current level and return, it would definitely attract the more casual gamer.
Graphically, I wasn't expecting too much. Planet 51 does meet that expectation, but only due to the fact that all animated movie tie-ins produce the same kind of visuals. Not that it is a bad thing though - it does capture the same feel from the movie, so I'll give credit where credit is due. As for the audio, the sound effects are great and the music is from the film's soundtrack, so again, no issues as such. The only fault with the sounds is that the voice acting sounds very staged and, especially during the tasks, the same phrases are repeatedly overused. If you are easily annoyed. it may help to have the volume lowered when playing this one - the scenes are subtitled if this is the case.
The controls are responsive enough to be able to play easily, although sometimes it is felt there is a little too much under steer on the vehicles. The developers have come up with a great idea for the hover cars with this fault though - the vehicles can also strafe. Tricky to master strafing whilst racing, but get to grips with it and it does make the driving sections a little smoother to play. And believe me...you'll be doing a lot of driving...the consecutive missions tend to be opposite sides of the map!
One other flaw to pick out on the game is the issue of movement speed. Things tend to go from "tortoise climbing up a hill" slow to "Lewis Hamilton on an open motorway" fast. This huge differences in speed can make the races interesting, but for the most part, I found it annoying!
Overall Planet 51 is an average game with a few good features. There certainly isn't much to gawp at, but can act as a decent time-filler during times when nothing decent seems to be released. I would recommend buying it, unless of course you or your child love the film, but to the casual gamer, it may be just worth a rent.
58%