Puss in Boots
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: THQ Developer: Blitz Games Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action/ Family/ Platformer
Graphics & Sound: Without a doubt, this is the game we wanted to play after seeing Puss in Boots at the movies. We saw the thing in IMAX 3D, so you can imagine expectations were running fairly high! Not only is the entire story arc from the movie recreated here, but the locations are modeled in a way that stays very true to the film. The voices also are spot-on. Playing Puss in Boots feels very much like you've been transported into the film, complete with grand musical backdrops and plenty of cut-scenes that fill out the story. The cartoon-style interludes were a bit of a surprise, since most games now just do everything in the same graphics used for the player-controlled sections. Kids know the story, so the developers may have assumed there was no reason to spend cycles generating computer graphics that would automatically feel like a weak shadow of what Dreamworks created for Puss in Boots in theaters. All the detail work seems to have gone into designing for the game's levels, where you can find all kinds of great little touches. As you duel with enemies, you can scan the background to find objects that may have some potential for interaction. Sure enough, if you see a wasp's nest hanging from a distant tree, try kicking an enemy in that general direction. Succeed, and you'll be treated to a quick display of "stinging fury meets bandito." These details are the kinds of things that bring kids back to game, long after completing the main story and other challenges.
Gameplay: The story, in case you haven't yet seen the movie, revolves around the legendary cat hero, Puss in Boots, who is a bit of an antihero in the sense that he's been evicted from his hometown. He's attempting to pull the biggest heist of his career, in the hope that he can earn the respect of his family and fellow townsfolk. Assisting him is the cat burglar named Kitty Softpaws and his childhood friend, Humpty Alexander Dumpty. The main mode is the story, direct from the film, where you travel from the town to the epic battle with Jack and Jill, then up the Magic Beanstalk to the Giant's Castle, and back down to the town. The general idea is that you prance in front of the Kinect camera pretending to be Puss in Boots during his adventure. It works flawlessly, for kids of all ages. There are challenges designed for multiple players, but the bulk of the game is a single-player swashbuckling advennture. The most common action in Puss in Boots is certainly swordfighting. The game implements a fairly "squishy" system for modeling how Puss actually battles during the game, making it possible to wave your arms without a real plan and still do fine. It's the Kinect version of button-mashing! There are times when you actually need to adopt a pose during battles, but there are other segments that challenge your ability to freeze in certain poses. Other areas have Puss in Boots sliding down the Beanstalk on a giant leaf, not unlike riding a snowboard. All these activities, plus some platforming stand-bys like jumping on leaves and shimmying across vines, make this a well-rounded package. It takes all the film's settings and models Kinect-driven actions around what might have been throwaway action on the big screen. Whether dodging barrels or sneaking past guards, kids will have a blast playing this one.
Difficulty: The sneaking segments are some of the toughest for young kids to complete, largely because kids of a certain age find it impossible to stand still. You might be able to cheat on a platform like the Wii, but the extremely sensitive camera on the Kinect sees even the slightest motion. Other challenges that feel almost like embedded mini-games are challenging, such as the one where you'll strike a pose to hide behind an object to avoid being seen. Getting into some of the poses is hard enough, and holding them can be especially tricky. Aside from these, most of the challenges are very manageable and won't cost more than a few lost coins toward the eventual level score. Older kids will want to play again for better scores, but the younger ones will just be aiming for each new checkpoint to see what's around the next corner. With some help in places by a parent or sibling, Puss in Boots is approachable by all but the youngest gamers. It's possible for two players to cooperate during the main story, by tagging in at select moments, which can further help to smooth out any tough spots. Even when the level of challenge is high, Puss in Boots does a good job explaining and reminding, so players are always informed and aware of what's required to move forward. This runs through sword fights, where you'll see simple instructions on how to use special moves that make battles so endearing.
Game Mechanics: This is probably the most forgiving Kinect title we've played. Chalk it up to maturation of the platform, smart devs, or both. Instead of forcing players to pay attention to the camera and its input, Puss in Boots mostly "just works" and stays out of the player's way. As in all games using Kinect, Puss in Boots tends to be a bit finicky about where you stand in the room, perhaps more so when you switch players mid-stream. The moves you're required to do during a sword fight can look a lot like madly waving your arms fighting off a swarm of bees or crows. At first, we wondered what the catch was, but there doesn't seem to be one. If you move around more energetically, you tend to do better, but there's a sloppiness to the way Puss in Boots implemented Kinect that makes it much easier to work with. Occasionally this shows up as a negative, in the cases where you're striking a pose and nothing is happening. We didn't see much of this at all. For the most part, you can follow the instructions on the screen and find your way smoothly to the closing credits. Even kids too young to read well can mostly grasp the mechanics. The fact that the sliding leaf segment mentioned earlier looks like snowboarding brings it right home to kids who skate, surf, or board. Designed for kids, but equally playable and enjoyable for adults, Puss in Boots is the rare film tie-in game that actually delivers on what we left the theater loving. Great graphics and audio, solid action, humor, and reasons to keep coming back solo or with another player, this is one title we expect to see making Christmas lists this year and being stuffed into many a boot --er, we mean stocking hung by the fireplace with care...
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
Related Links: Buy Puss in Boots on Amazon
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