Beastly
This movie-based game is about an obnoxious spoiled, rich, good-looking boy who
is cursed by a witch classmate. Transformed by a webbing of gnarly carvings
hideously carved into his skin, he is told he has a year to find someone to love
him before it becomes permanent. All the characters are from the movie and you
play a school mate, picking only the gender.
To be honest, I could not finish the game so I can only give you a review based
on what I could accomplish. The game is quite simple and moves basically between
three different modes. The first mode, you are in the halls of the school,
interacting with other students and accomplishing tasks which require mostly
walking and getting conversations from specific main characters. Your direction
is highlighted, as are the people you need to talk to. You have a portfolio of
pictures, conversations and a tracking of scenarios you have completed which you
can refer to as you go. With the second mode, you are given snippets of the
movie to further the story. Lastly, interspersed with your characters tasks and
movie pieces, are mini games.
Fans of the movie will no doubt love the pieces of film which are interspersed
in the game and the studio pictures that are also added to the portfolio. As
with the character movements in the school halls, the mini games are also very
simple. The instructions for each mini game are not always clear but the
simplicity of the games allow you to easily figure out how to work them anyway.
The main snag I had with the game was the fact that the shifts between the three
modes were clumsy and time consuming. As a result the game itself did not flow
smoothly and it was a bit boring to wait for the system to reel up the next
step. The reason I could not finish the game was because there was no way to
sidestep any of the mini games if you encountered any problems. The games were
not complex nor did I find them very imaginative. On a few they have a heavy
emphasis on timing. If you can not line up a direct shot at a specific moment,
you are forced to replay it until you do. The game I could not pass required you
to manipulate a crane inside a candy machine to pick up ten specific items.
Manipulating the crane was not difficult but even locating and grasping the item
was not enough; you needed to lift it to the top and my crane claws would not
hold on the items despite my numerous attempts. I could understand if one or two
by shape or size would require some finesse but to be unable to lift any of the
items did not make sense.
Even if I had been able to finish the entire game, I would still have said it
was sluggish, clumsy and not terribly engaging. The most frustrating part was
the inability to bypass any of the mini games and still enjoy the arc of the
story. Many games do give you the choice to pass on something that presents too
big a problem or isn't interesting to your gaming tastes. Some may consider that the
simplicity makes it less geared for adults but then the timing issue on the mini
games and the crane problem I encountered might keep it from being tagged mostly
meant for children.
Reviewed by: Adison Garzon - Apr/11
Rating: E - Everyone
Fun Factor: Sluggish and some mini-games unwinnable
Female Factor: Good roles for women
Player Friendly: Not possible to bypass mini-games makes it difficult to complete game