Barnyard (Wii)
- Publisher:
- THQ
- Developer:
- THQ
- Release Date:
- 04.12.2006
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Extra:
- Comic Style
We play Barnyard...
Traditionally speaking, videogames based on movies rarely ever achieve anything other than being mere cash cows. Perhaps, then, it would surprise a few people to learn that Barnyard – based on the kid’s film of the same name – is surprisingly fun. If you haven’t already picked up the Gamecube version of the game already, you may be pleasantly surprised with this Wii incarnation, which incorporates some engaging use of the Wii remote.
Barnyard pits you in the shoes of a newcomer to the farm, a cow, who, in order to fit in around with the rest of the animals, has to rise to the rank of ‘Number One Party Animal’. After selecting the gender of your grass-chewing friend, you can begin your long climb up the ladder. Essentially, think of Barnyard like GTA – with cows. The game operates entirely in sandbox fashion, where you’ll be able to see the days and nights go by at your leisure, as you attempt to complete various tasks set by the local animals in and around the farm area. Providing you collect enough cash (or ‘Gopher bucks’, as they are called) from completing tasks and finding them dotted about the place, you will be able to build up the local barn into a flash chill-out joint for the local animals, cementing your place at the top of the popularity ladder.
Tasks are alerted to you by text messages received to your mobile phone, instructing you to meet one of your pals at a certain time and place around the farm. These tasks are for the most part varied if simple, and include a multitude of Wii remote functionality. These can involve anything from collecting certain objects for another character, racing against fellow animals on a bike or, more interestingly, teasing the local mailman by performing a variety of hilarious poses while his back is turned. The Wii remote itself is used in conjunction with the nun-chuck, the latter of which is used to jump by swinging it up (or by pressing C), with the remote used to swing through various in-game menus and to navigate your inventory. The fun really starts when you get to the meat of the game, though, where you can use the remote to steer a car on late night joy rides, playing pool, mixing milk to turn it into cream and, hilariously, using your udders to squirt milk at mischievous raccoons and coyotes. Even better, they require a certain amount of timing and keep you on your toes, despite the simplicity of the task at hand. There are also a couple of other events to take part in that are not always a major priority, such as visiting Pig in the kitchen to cook up some tasty dishes, or even repeating certain tasks over again (like the mailman event) to improve your score to the prestigious ‘star’ reward.
Eventually you’ll rack up enough cash to start purchasing goods from the local gophers, which you can then use to pimp out the local barn. You can purchase anything from furniture, food to entertainment items such as pool tables. For all its entertainment value, though, Barnyard includes its fair share of problems. For starters, some of the missions assigned to you can prove rather uneventful, most notably the linear ‘collecting’ tasks (gathering various food items etc), which are over all too quickly and prove slightly dull for the most park. Then again, even the games most memorable tasks are usually over in a couple of minutes, although they are unquestionably more enjoyable than these rudimentary tasks. Problematically, some of the Wii remote controls come off worse than others, usually down to sensitivity, such as playing pool. On the flip side though, the game is fairly lenient and it doesn’t require you to be all too accurate to get by. Another obvious issue is if you’ve played any other version of the game, there is really no need to warrant another purchase, even if the controls are better immersing the player than a regular control pad.
Aesthetically, you are looking at a virtually identical port to last-gen consoles. The Wii version is slightly sharper thanks to higher resolution, but overall, there isn’t much here to distinguish the game from its Gamecube counterpart. Still, the animation on the characters faces stay true to the film, and there are a couple of nice effects thrown in for good measure that help maintain the feel of the movie. In terms of sound effects, there isn’t a lot to speak of. The voices are pleasant and sometimes amusing, although there aren’t a lot of them. Bizarrely, characters only utter the first sentence of a given conversation, with the rest, including your character, simply being text-based. The games soundtrack, meanwhile, is fairly limited and more than often comes off quite repetitive because of this.
Overall, Barnyard is simple, yet still abundant in entertainment value. The non-linear style of the game keeps things fresh and doesn’t force generic paths down the player’s throat, and the use of the Wii mote is particularly impressive. Sure, sometimes it’s too simple for its own good, and there are a few issues with certain control aspects, but overall, it’s a worthwhile package for fans of the movie and kids alike. If you already own it on the Gamecube, however, there is no need to fork out for an extra purchase.
Top Gaming Moment: Moon Walking behind an unsuspecting postman and getting away with it is perhaps the most hilarious scene in the game.
Barnyard pits you in the shoes of a newcomer to the farm, a cow, who, in order to fit in around with the rest of the animals, has to rise to the rank of ‘Number One Party Animal’. After selecting the gender of your grass-chewing friend, you can begin your long climb up the ladder. Essentially, think of Barnyard like GTA – with cows. The game operates entirely in sandbox fashion, where you’ll be able to see the days and nights go by at your leisure, as you attempt to complete various tasks set by the local animals in and around the farm area. Providing you collect enough cash (or ‘Gopher bucks’, as they are called) from completing tasks and finding them dotted about the place, you will be able to build up the local barn into a flash chill-out joint for the local animals, cementing your place at the top of the popularity ladder.
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| While the humans are away, the animals come out to play! | The folk down at the Barnyard get up to all sorts of crazy antics, such as this bike race |
Tasks are alerted to you by text messages received to your mobile phone, instructing you to meet one of your pals at a certain time and place around the farm. These tasks are for the most part varied if simple, and include a multitude of Wii remote functionality. These can involve anything from collecting certain objects for another character, racing against fellow animals on a bike or, more interestingly, teasing the local mailman by performing a variety of hilarious poses while his back is turned. The Wii remote itself is used in conjunction with the nun-chuck, the latter of which is used to jump by swinging it up (or by pressing C), with the remote used to swing through various in-game menus and to navigate your inventory. The fun really starts when you get to the meat of the game, though, where you can use the remote to steer a car on late night joy rides, playing pool, mixing milk to turn it into cream and, hilariously, using your udders to squirt milk at mischievous raccoons and coyotes. Even better, they require a certain amount of timing and keep you on your toes, despite the simplicity of the task at hand. There are also a couple of other events to take part in that are not always a major priority, such as visiting Pig in the kitchen to cook up some tasty dishes, or even repeating certain tasks over again (like the mailman event) to improve your score to the prestigious ‘star’ reward.
 |
 |
|
| Some of the mini games require a certain amount of timing on the players part, such as this one | Eventually you will pimp out the local Barn and cement your place as the Number One Party Animal |
Eventually you’ll rack up enough cash to start purchasing goods from the local gophers, which you can then use to pimp out the local barn. You can purchase anything from furniture, food to entertainment items such as pool tables. For all its entertainment value, though, Barnyard includes its fair share of problems. For starters, some of the missions assigned to you can prove rather uneventful, most notably the linear ‘collecting’ tasks (gathering various food items etc), which are over all too quickly and prove slightly dull for the most park. Then again, even the games most memorable tasks are usually over in a couple of minutes, although they are unquestionably more enjoyable than these rudimentary tasks. Problematically, some of the Wii remote controls come off worse than others, usually down to sensitivity, such as playing pool. On the flip side though, the game is fairly lenient and it doesn’t require you to be all too accurate to get by. Another obvious issue is if you’ve played any other version of the game, there is really no need to warrant another purchase, even if the controls are better immersing the player than a regular control pad.
 |
 |
|
| Talk to characters to retrieve missions. Pig, for example, usually requires you to hunt down various food types so you can cook up something tasty | The game puts the Wii remote to some good use. Here, you use the remote target and shoot a tomato gun |
Aesthetically, you are looking at a virtually identical port to last-gen consoles. The Wii version is slightly sharper thanks to higher resolution, but overall, there isn’t much here to distinguish the game from its Gamecube counterpart. Still, the animation on the characters faces stay true to the film, and there are a couple of nice effects thrown in for good measure that help maintain the feel of the movie. In terms of sound effects, there isn’t a lot to speak of. The voices are pleasant and sometimes amusing, although there aren’t a lot of them. Bizarrely, characters only utter the first sentence of a given conversation, with the rest, including your character, simply being text-based. The games soundtrack, meanwhile, is fairly limited and more than often comes off quite repetitive because of this.
Overall, Barnyard is simple, yet still abundant in entertainment value. The non-linear style of the game keeps things fresh and doesn’t force generic paths down the player’s throat, and the use of the Wii mote is particularly impressive. Sure, sometimes it’s too simple for its own good, and there are a few issues with certain control aspects, but overall, it’s a worthwhile package for fans of the movie and kids alike. If you already own it on the Gamecube, however, there is no need to fork out for an extra purchase.
Top Gaming Moment: Moon Walking behind an unsuspecting postman and getting away with it is perhaps the most hilarious scene in the game.
