I left off in the middle of my review yesterday so today, let's return to The Simpsons: Hit and Run.
My last major problem with S:H&R is with the camera. It is unweildy and problematic when your character is on foot. It will swing around wildly and unpredictably when what you really need is to see straight ahead. It would have been nice to have the ability to manuever the camera manually at some points, particularly when my character was next to a wall. Some jumping puzzles are rendered quite difficult because the camera is a solid object and cannot pass through any other solid object including walls, lampposts, or even tree leaves. For instance, in the first level, Homer must jump across multiple moving platforms to reach one of the objectives. When he is next to the wall, the camera will not move behind him because the wall is solid which makes finding a perfect line of sight to Homer's destination all but impossible. All of these problems are relatively nonexistent when the character is driving as the camera is confinded to following the path of the car.
In terms of the graphics, the models, textures, and animations are all well suited to the game. The colors are vivid and the models are well reproduced in three dimensions from their two-dimensional cartoon counterparts. I have read other complaints that the graphics are too plain, but I personally feel that this added to the impression that I was playing a cartoon. While the graphics are by no means "drool-inducing", they are more than sufficient to immerse me in the evirons of Springfield, USA.
The audio, particularly the voice over in S:H&R, is great . The original cast is entirely present to provide the voices that define the characters and hearing them spout lines from the show as well as some new material is a treat. The only time it starts to get a little weary is in a vehicle. Hearing Homer yell "Outta the way, jerkass!" was funny the first hundred times I heard it, but it got annoying after a while. The music is perfect as the soundtrack to the virtual lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Apu, smoothly weaving between jovial wandering themes and fist-pumping, adrenaline laced tracks during fast action sequences. While I haven't found myself whistling any of the tunes outside of the game, they are entirely effective in the game itself. The only drawback that I experience with the audio was annoying bug that occurred while driving certain cars. The engine sound would suddenly shift into a crashing static sound that interfered with all other sound channels. My only courses of action were to either reboot the game or turn my speakers off until the problem corrected itself.
All in all, The Simpson: Hit and Run is exactly what it sets itself up to be: an interesting jaunt through all of the little areas of Springfield that a Simpsons fan has come to know, filled with many of the oddball characters that have graced the screen at one point or another. The story, while not entirely compelling, is partially upstaged by all the quick-witted references to the show, which in the long run are what most of the fans of Simpsons lore want anyway. I recommend this game for even the more mild Simpsons fans out there. It is fun, albeit in increaingly brief play periods towards the end, it looks good, and it sounds great. However, I would definitely recommend picking this title up for whichever console flavor you prefer rather than the PC port. This is far and away a console title and one that deserves your attention if you've ever spent some time with The Simpsons television show.
Currently listening to: They Might Be Giants, If I Wasn't Shy
No comments:
Post a Comment