THE SIMPSONS GAME REVIEW PLUS

Later, you battle a possessed Lard Lad in a Shadow of the Colossus-inspired stage. It's easy to miss, especially when a deluge of foes bear down on you (as they often do). The game provides you with a tiny prompt in your HUD to let you know when that item is available. You stand there scratching your head for ages, until you realize you can use Bart's grappling hook. Again, Comic Book Guy, where was your biting commentary on simplistic, overused button-mash mechanics?Д«ut how can anyone complete objectives when constant annoyances get in the way? Sometimes you reach a dead end or a chasm you can't cross with a normal jump. More often than not, I found myself avoiding combat ( in an action game, no less) and focusing on objectives. Your strikes don't build up to neat combos, either, so you're stuck constantly swinging inadequate punches while enemy populations barely diminish. You receive one button to mindlessly mash for an attack and another to execute special blows. You could fight them off, but the combat system here is horribly dated. Even if you put distance between you and the mob, they pelt you with fireballs and pigskins until you perish. At that point, you battle an endlessly spawning army of football players and clones of Ryu from Street Fighter, as they crowd and mercilessly beat you to bloody pulps.

You'll breeze through the first few levels, only to curse yourself hoarse once you reach a stage where Bart and Lisa enter a virtual world where video game content is manufactured. For delightful traction of an hour, Simpsons functions like an interactive episode of its source material.Д«ut then you enter the game's assortment of missions, and disenchantment returns. Everyone from Ned Flanders to Bumblebee Man also wander the streets, spouting off random quotes. The town is impressively put together, and looks great thanks to cel-shading. On the brighter side, though, Springfield is at least a joy to explore for all of fifteen minutes. Where was Comic Book Guy on that? 'Oh, a mediocre open world with incessant item gathering. You then must drop back down to the street, locate a bus stop, change out your party and hope you can remember how and where to summit the building. You might struggle to get Bart and Lisa to climb a certain building, only to discover that a bottle cap lies waiting for Homer's grubby fingers. If you wish to fully undertake this task, though, be ready to backtrack like crazy.

THE SIMPSONS GAME REVIEW PLUS

Each playable member of the family has seventy-five tokens to obtain, plus additional items hidden in each mission. There are no major side missions or distractions that any worthwhile open or semi-open world title would provide, aside from collecting character-specific items. Simpsons critiques a lot of low hanging fruit, but it fails to realize its own flaws.ДЇor instance, you can explore Springfield in all its glory, but don't expect a full-fledged sandbox from this installment. Let's be honest, though: few people are actually bothered by pressure plate puzzles or breakable crates or most of the trite old things this game points out. Even lava pits and saw blades aren't safe from Comic Book Guy's eye for the obvious, and both of those crop up more than a few times throughout the campaign. It trashes enemy-spawning nests, but has no problem throwing them at you until you want to burn every copy of Gauntlet you can find. The game then spams that very concept to no end. Now and then you bump into a game trope, and Comic Book Guy pops up to smugly point out that the device in question is overused. Yeah, this is one of those games: a title that thumbs its nose at video game cliches and pitfalls, while falling victim to similar headaches itself. You take control of two of four Simpsons characters (you only utilize Maggie during brief segments, where she crawls through ventilation ducts) as they voyage through a parody of the games industry. This revelation comes after hours of toiling with all manner of flaws, from irksome mechanics to painfully drab missions. I couldn't help but cringe during this scene, though, because the events leading up to it were no better than your standard, lackluster Simpsons title. You come across this confession during a late campaign cutscene, where a major villain apologizes for all of the poorly developed precursors to this self-aware adventure. 'Smithers, dismember the corpse and send his widow a corsage.'ДЄt one point, The Simpsons Game admits that its franchise consists of mostly awful licensed fare.

The simpsons game review