Preview
The Simpsons Preview (PS3)
One of the most unanticipated games of the year yet still one of the most adored, The Simpsons Game has proven to raise eyebrows from just about everyone that’s heard anything of it. But how does it play? That’s what has been the biggest concern, especially since so many Simpsons titles have been released and very few of them have been worthwhile.
This brings up somewhat of an oddity for EA, whose Redwood Shores team developed the title. EA is known for making controls simple and perhaps too simplistic for hardcore gamers. Yet The Simpsons from a first glance has a full list of commands spewing forth from the controller.
Generally such would be no issue, though because of the strange gameplay, as expected, getting used to the controls takes a bit of time. The demo we played didn’t give a good explanation of how the controls worked. Weird things happened, which I’m sure I’m at fault for. One example is Bart, one of the playable characters, can only turn into Bartman under certain circumstances. What those circumstances still aren’t perfectly clear.
The full game will have a few tutorials for each character’s abilities, so that shouldn’t be a huge worry. At the same time, the game does a wonderful job of pointing players in the right direction, giving hints, and being generally helpful through the use of classic Simpsons humor. The level we played was dictated entirely by Kent Brockman (the news anchor), who would state when Homer or Bart were low on health, causing havoc, and if more enemies were appearing on the map.
Some may recall the previous titles having purely 3D graphics, which tended to look poor in comparison to the cartoon. Characters and maps simply didn’t match what America has known for so long. This new title uses Cell Shading, which works wonders. There’s no better way to make a cartoon play in three dimensions than this, and everything looks and feels like the TV show.
There is plenty that is like the famous arcade which we all know, but this is a huge game. 16 “episodes” each with its own story, hundreds of extras, and plenty to laugh about. Cooperative play, online play, pokes at every other huge game made and our favorite family…what more is there to ask for? This big boy is set to roll out on October 30th in the states, and November 1st in Europe and Austrailia.
This brings up somewhat of an oddity for EA, whose Redwood Shores team developed the title. EA is known for making controls simple and perhaps too simplistic for hardcore gamers. Yet The Simpsons from a first glance has a full list of commands spewing forth from the controller.
Generally such would be no issue, though because of the strange gameplay, as expected, getting used to the controls takes a bit of time. The demo we played didn’t give a good explanation of how the controls worked. Weird things happened, which I’m sure I’m at fault for. One example is Bart, one of the playable characters, can only turn into Bartman under certain circumstances. What those circumstances still aren’t perfectly clear.
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The full game will have a few tutorials for each character’s abilities, so that shouldn’t be a huge worry. At the same time, the game does a wonderful job of pointing players in the right direction, giving hints, and being generally helpful through the use of classic Simpsons humor. The level we played was dictated entirely by Kent Brockman (the news anchor), who would state when Homer or Bart were low on health, causing havoc, and if more enemies were appearing on the map.
Some may recall the previous titles having purely 3D graphics, which tended to look poor in comparison to the cartoon. Characters and maps simply didn’t match what America has known for so long. This new title uses Cell Shading, which works wonders. There’s no better way to make a cartoon play in three dimensions than this, and everything looks and feels like the TV show.
There is plenty that is like the famous arcade which we all know, but this is a huge game. 16 “episodes” each with its own story, hundreds of extras, and plenty to laugh about. Cooperative play, online play, pokes at every other huge game made and our favorite family…what more is there to ask for? This big boy is set to roll out on October 30th in the states, and November 1st in Europe and Austrailia.
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