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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
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Written by Insane_Kenny
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Saturday, 28 January 2006 |
Anyone up for some chocolate filled action? Get ready to pile on the pounds as we take you into the mythical Chocolate Factory of Mr. Willy Wonka.
 Say hello to a chocolate crammed heaven in gaming! Charlie Bucket stars in his new realm of entertainment with Mr. Wonka leading the way! So come inside...if you don't mind putting on a few calories in the process. Storyline: Anyone who's read the book, seen the old movie or even the new one should grasp this game by the handles and play time your thumbs get sore. The game keeps to the movie rather than to the book as most of the characters are based off the movie's appearances. True that this game is made longer with more levels and different scenarios but then it wouldn't be a long game by just sticking to the story all the time. The game starts off with the nice cinematic opening including the narrator's voice from the latest movie. This introduces Charlie Bucket, the main character of the game, to all the people playing. Though you could skip the introduction and play the game, the actual storyline being told in the game isn't half bad. Backed up with excellent art, it feels like the Author of the original book, Roald Dahl, had come up with the sketches himself. Safe to say that these sketches provide some good entertainment, helping you to ease in to the cartoon-like game you're about to play. So anyone who has seen the recent movie should know that it starts with Charlie and follows him around in his adventures. The game starts off by giving you an easy task of following that all illusive $10 that Charlie finds in the gutter. After that, things start to get interesting. Game play: The game seems to plummet you into nothingness when starting off. It would seem that the creators of the game didn't intend it to be child friendly, ignoring the label they gave the game. This has no tutorial and no directions on how to play the game directly. The game is learnt by useful hints along the way and by sheer will alone. The game itself may seem like child's play. Rest assured, it isn't. Some of the game's most exciting features is the total control over Oompa-Loompa's. The tiny orange men are now your slaves so it would seem, feeding your every whim. These little men will help you overcome the challenges of the levels, fixing, pushing, pulling, prodding and doing all sorts of things to make life easier for you. The game itself couldn't be harder though. You'll find yourself frustrated after about 15 minutes into the game asking yourself, "Why the hell did I even buy this?? The levels are difficult and the controls are hard. With your character always running, the camera always turning and the Oompa-Loompa?s getting in your way, you'll find yourself lost in the game within an instant. Most levels require you to perform a number of brain tickling tasks, which seem pointless and too hard to even be worth the effort. The Oompa-Loompa?s themselves are hard to control, sometimes waiting somewhere when you ask them to go work or even just ignoring you completely. Life is hard as Charlie Bucket. The game does have some plus points though. Bouncing around on Bubble-gum Balloons is quite entertaining for a while and when that's old there's the odd little trick with sweets that you get in various levels. Some perform tricks where you can trap enemies; some turn you into a rolling rock. I could say that the whole game is pointlessly stupid seeing as everyone knows how it ends. But this game is entertaining, if not faulted in some ways.  Graphics: There are some quite good sketches to browse along when continuing the storyline. These sketches show the artist's rendition of the characters in the game, and it's a very good artist that made them to say the least. These funny, childish, cartoon drawings will have your eyeballs drooling. Simply great art accompanied by the storyline and backgrounds. Fantastic doesn't even describe how incredible the art is. The game's character designs are actually quite surprisingly good as well. These models seem to work in well with the chocolate factory's colorful canvas. The models move fluently and seem to never have a glitch. The actual explosions and effects in the game are also of great quality. All in all the quality of the game makes it nicer to play and easier on the eyes at least. Voice-overs: Since this game relies on it's faithful cast of characters from the movie for its voices the quality of the voicing is in good form. These kick in during the storylines, when the art is showing, and make it alot easier to understand if you're new to the game or even the story. With great voicing there is great possibility and the makers of the game have certainly used the voices to great effect. Playability: Sapping your life force one chocolate bar at a time. This is the best way to describe this game. Unless you have absolutely nothing to do then you might find yourself playing this game. It's a bit dull at times and can be very annoyingly repetitive. Not that it's a bad thing; I just don't think that I could take another Charlie Bucket catchphrase ever again. Only play this game if you have a lot of time or REALLY like chocolate. If your stomach starts to grumble you've either been playing it too long or have the undesirable urge to eat mounds of chocolate. This game can do it to you... Summary: Overall this game is extremely good. Although debatable whether the older generation may like it's crazy, cartoon style, this game doesn't disappoint. A colorful game with lots of humor, good quality artists and a heap load of chocolate make this game what it is. A great game for all of the family, even if aimed at the kids. I give it a 71%. A game to play even though it may make you reach for the occasional piece of chocolate afterwards. |
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