Sunday, February 4, 2007
QuickView
Good: Big, streaming game world, large number of minigames, graphics effectively capture the movie, decent voice acting, good use of Wii controls
Bad: Extremely easy, no multiplayer, lots of fetch quests
Needs More: Cowbell
There's something very dirty about the E-rated console version of Barnyard. I think it has something to do with the air-hump thrusting motion of male cows shooting their "milk" at unsuspecting raccoons, coyotes, and baby chickens. Then again, maybe I'm just getting old and that's what 10-year-olds are up to these days.
The game is based off last year's Nickelodeon film, and follows the adventures of a group of farm animals who have the humanlike abilities to walk on two feet, talk with each other, use cell phones, and make vulgar thrusting motions. These lovable critters, labeled "the original party animals," spend their time stealing bikes, flashing mailmen, shooting milk at each other, and throwing barn parties complete with milk bars serving "mocktails." Seriously, great stuff for the kids. The story itself picks up when a new cow (your character) arrives at the farm. In all reality, there's really not a whole lot of exposition that occurs after this. That's pretty much it.
Gameplay itself follows a nice free-roaming format, with a large, streaming game world to explore. Right at the beginning, a large portion of the map is available to the player, and new areas become available fairly quickly as you complete main story objectives. Unfortunately, many of these objectives fall into the fetch quest category, and the long runs required for some of these quests becomes tedious quickly.
Thankfully, the main focus of the game is the wealth of minigames spread out across the land, and playing these goes a long way in reducing the monotony of mindless fetching. Even at the start of the game, a large number of these minigames are available, and new ones are unlocked pretty rapidly. While none of the minigames are particularly new and innovative, most provide fairly amusing diversions. The bike racing and gopher golf minigames in particular are well made and entertaining. Some of the other games are a little less exciting, but even the worst only have to be completed once at most in order to finish the main quest.
The Wii version improves upon the relatively poor control scheme of the other versions. Using your remote to aim when shooting milk feels much more natural than using a directional pad. Additionally, the minigames do an excellent job of implementing motion-sensitive actions, boosting the game's sense of immersion. Overall, this is one of the best uses of Wii controls in a port.
As for replay value, the game actually offers a fair amount of stuff to do. The main quest is a good length, but its incredibly easy level of difficulty results in its being over faster than it should. Fortunately, the minigames are good enough to keep players coming back for a while. The ability to immediately access any of these minigames from the main menu is a nice bonus, but the omission of any kind of multiplayer is questionable. Considering most of the minigames would be suited for up to 4 players, the exclusion of this option is disappointing.
The graphics do an effective job of capturing the spirit of the movie. Characters are colorful and animate fluidly, and the environments look pretty good too. The framerate, on the other hand, is inconsistent at best, often dropping when several characters are on screen at once. Frequent pop-up is another problem, but it's forgivable given the streaming nature of the game world.
The sound is for the most part acceptable. The sound effects are appropriately simple and fit the action well. The voice acting is good overall, although it would have been nice to hear more of it. Most characters only have voice-overs for the first line of their dialogue, leaving more to be desired. Another small problem is the music, which is nicely orchestrated, but enormously repetitive. After a few hours, the constantly looped main theme song starts to induce migraines.
Overall, Barnyard will provide an entertaining experience for younger gamers and fans of the movie. As long as you don't mind your kids chasing around chicks with their milk cannons, this game might keep them occupied for a while.
Graphics: 7.0
Sound: 7.5
First Play: 7.0
Replay Value: 7.5
Gameplay: 7.0
Overall: 7.1
lawrence.comrade
