Futurama
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: VU Games Developer: Eidos Interactive Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Miscellaneous/ Adventure
Graphics & Sound: Yet another of Matt Groening's creations has jumped into the gaming world. Futurama puts you in control of several characters from the Fox cartoon series of the same name. And what a first game it is too - Futurama puts the spirit of the cartoon onto your PS2. The graphics in this game take the cel shading style to a whole new level. The graphical engine in Futurama does a perfect job of displaying the crew of Planet Express as you romp your way through the galaxy as well as both Old New York and New New York. It isn't just the characters themselves that look spectacular in this game, but the rich environments and destructible objects all give the feeling of being inside the cartoon series. As far as sound is concerned, the voiceovers are done fairly well (especially when you consider that the original cast of the series takes control of the character's vocal cords). What surprised me the most about the voices in the game was that when your character speaks one of his/her/its few sayings, not only does the character display in the corner of the screen speak, but the character in the level will be moving its lips as well. This small detail was very impressive and it really stood out in my mind. As far as the music was concerned, the original theme song is in the game and available to play in the jukebox (as well as various other songs that can be unlocked). On top of the theme, there are several original scores tailored to the game that play while you explore the different levels.
Gameplay: In case you don't know the storyline of the Futurama TV series, here is a quick rundown. Phillip J. Fry was a pizza delivery boy in the late 20th century. As midnight on New Year's Eve (1999) approached, Fry fell into a cryogenic chamber and was frozen for 1000 years. Narrowly escaping being assigned a job, he and a cyclops named Leela join up with a suicidal robot named Bender that has dreams of being a folk singer. The trio find Fry's only living relative (his great, great, great, great ... great, great ... great, great grand nephew, Professor Farnsworth) and become employees under the aged inventor at an interstellar delivery service called Planet Express. Okay, now that you have the basic storyline of the show, here is what Futurama the game is about. The Professor has sold Planet Express to Mom, the evil owner of a robot oil manufacturing company, and with her latest acquisition, she now owns 51 percent of the earth and is the legal ruler of the world. It is up to the Planet Express crew (well, former crew) to stop Mom before she takes over the universe. You know, the same ol'- same ol'. On your journey you will play as Fry, Bender, Leela and the crew's doctor and favorite crustacean, Dr. Zoidberg. You have been given access to the Professor's latest invention, The Reanimator (yes, as in the 1980's horror film), which gives you an extra life every time you collect 25 valuables (these valuables differ depending on which character you are playing as). Also along the way you will be able to free Nibblers (little black, three-eyed, sharp-toothed, hyper intelligent fuzz balls in dippers), and if you find and release all of the Nibblonians in a level, one of the extras from the game is unlocked (these extras range from ads from the show, movies from the game and songs to play on the jukebox). As Fry, you will be able to use a variety of weapons, from a hammer, to several types of lasers to a Chicken-Walker, while Bender uses his arms and body as a weapon, and Leela employs her mad martial arts skills. As the (semi) good doctor, you will be riding through his levels jumping over obstacles and collecting fish bones.
Difficulty: This is a tough one. The difficulty in Futurama is a little sporadic. There are some levels where you can go from start to finish without losing a single life, and yet there are also levels where you will use several lives (I believe my max was 16 for a couple of levels). There doesn't seem to be any middle ground, just really easy levels or really hard (or more appropriately, annoying) levels. With only these two extremes being used in the game, you might start breezing through it, and then suddenly find yourself playing the same level over and over again. This fact seemed to take away from my enjoyment of the game, though only slightly.
Game Mechanics: It took me some time to get used to the control scheme of Futurama. The first thing I noticed was that when it came down to using either the D-Pad or the Analog Stick, I had to use the stick (which is different from how I usually play games of this style). When using the pad, you don't get the reaction and movement that is needed to quickly maneuver and get around the levels. This, plus the fact that the actual button system took some getting used to, led to some early deaths that could have otherwise been avoided. I will also admit that there are a couple of camera problems, but only the everyday ones you see in just about every 3rd person 3D game where you have complete control over the camera. Most of the time, the problem was rectified by switching to first person view (R3), and then immediately back to 3rd person perspective. Any fan of the cartoon series should be walking out of their front door right now and picking up a copy of the game; it is that plain and simple. If you are a fan of the genre, this is definitely a good buy. If you are just a casual gamer who is looking for a good game to play over the weekend, then I would recommend Futurama as a nice rent. So go on then, what are you waiting for - get this game.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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