Family guy is an animated show on Fox which recently came back from the dead. If you watch Fox you will know that most of their shows are crap, but every now and then they come up with a hit show that everyone loves. Family guy was cancelled and then brought back in 2005. Now the show is back to its popularity roots they have their own game.

There are 3 different stories in Family Guy: Stewie needs to defeat his half brother Bertrum, Brian needs to prove his innocence and evade the cops and Peter is just there to kick some ass. All the characters and voices of Family Guy are there, including my favorite character Death. There are even short clips as they go on a flash back.



The game is funny in places but it does get repetitive. Just like most animation shows they begin with a side scroller type of game. Futurama, The Simpsons, Ren and Stimpy; they all begin with that type of game style. Just keep going forward, fight some bad guys, keep going forward, fight more bad guys, the end. That is basically the story between Peter and Stewie.

Brian on the other hand has to use stealth in order that he doesn't get caught. So you need to time your steps, move as quickly as possible or you will be discovered. It’s not just narrowed down to cops, inmates will also turn you in.

What’s great about this game is that there are frequent check points so if Brian gets caught he will not be forced to start from scratch at the beginning of the level.

At one point of the game you don’t know what the hell to do. Without any clues, you will get sick of this game and toss it aside. Or if you’re like the millions of people that will want to pass the game no matter what they you will go online and find an answer to your question.

Depending on what character you use, the controls will be different. The controls are clunky and no matter how hard you press the joystick you’re character will take their time getting to their destination. This will definitely cast you big time in the game because if you’re not fast enough you will get knocked out or caught (depending on your character).

Graphics wise Family Guy is too blocky for the PSP, PS2 and Xbox. In-game the graphics are OK but during the cut scene’s, you start noticing that either this game was not completed or the developers were too lazy to do it properly. I’m not saying that graphics are everything but it would not hurt to have some smooth and better looking character animations.

There are interactive backgrounds that sometimes just freeze like nothing else is going on. With the rest of the game the AI is OK and does what it’s suppose to do.

The voice over is one of the better things about this game. All the original voice cast of Family Guy are here and as the game was written by the Family Guy creators there are no lazy script writers on this game, unlike many game such as: Prey or N3.

Even though the game engine was done with Pro Logic II the sound effects are far too low and if you raise the volume on your TV they are way too high. Don’t get me wrong I love a loud TV but at some point you will loose your sense of hearing.

The music bad while in-game. Just your average trombone, symbols, and saxophone playing in the background every now and then.



Closing Comments:

It seems that someone over at High Voltage told their employees to take a nap while this game was being made. The script and voice over is solid and is able to maintain the Family Guy spirit but when it came down to put them in a game boy did they did everything else wrong.

Family Guy is a budget game costing $29.99 and I think the consequence is that the Developer did not put enough money into the Family Guy project. If you are looking to satisfy your Family Guy hunger then get this game, otherwise I'd save your money for something more worthwhile.



Game play: Repetitive, repetitive, frustrating, repetitive, 2D style game play in 3D. 2/10

Graphics: Cell shaded graphics are OK in-game but are bad and blocky during cut scenes. 4/10

Controls: Clunky. 1/10

Sound: Excellent voice over by the original cast almost makes up for the bad music and sound effects. 8/10

Life span: A couple of hours of fun for all those Family Guy fans out there. 7/10

Bonus points: Great scripts with great voice over by the original cast. 5/5

Total score: 54% = F

Reviewed by: NightHawk