Is that the God of Wharf? Parodies of other games are everywhere in The Simpsons Game
It is a very rare case for me to play a licensed video game, but I had heard that the game wasn’t bad – it stays true to the Simpsons, pokes fun at the video game industry, and the gameplay is pretty enjoyable. I’d go so far as to say that this is the best Simpsons game I’ve ever played, even if that may not be saying much.
My brother gave it to me as a gift and we played the game for most of our Christmas break since it features offline split-screen co-op. For him and me to actually spend several hours playing through a game, it can’t be horrible, can it?
Intro
There have been over 20 Simpsons games since the show was created 17 years ago, some of them good (The Simpsons Arcade game) but almost all of them bad. It’s surprising that a Simpsons movie finally came out this year, when the Simpsons’ popularity has been in a constant state of decline. One would initially think that this game was released to “cash in” on the movie, but this is one of the very few times where I have discovered that a licensed game was not a simple “cash in”.
Sure, EA probably made use of the renewed interest in the Simpsons due to the movie, but the game is not related to the movie at all. Writers behind The Simpsons actually wrote an original storyline to the game. Instead of just making fun of popular culture like in the show, The Simpsons Game pokes fun at the gaming industry and its various game cliches.
Some of these parodies, such as Medal of Homer (Medal of Honor) and Grand Theft Scratchy (Grand Theft Auto) even got some people upset. Rockstar, the guys behind Grand Theft Auto, were not happy with the title of Grand Theft Scratchy being used, and EA was forced to change the name of their Grand Theft Scratchy level to “Mob Rules.” Amusingly, none of the GTA style game play in that level was altered and posters of Grand Theft Scratchy and references to it are abundant throughout the game. It’s basically like Rockstar didn’t like one of the levels being actually called “Grand Theft Scratchy”, but didn’t care that it was referenced everyone in the game.
If you have any sense of humor, I guarantee you will chuckle at least once with the number of jokes you’ll find throughout the game
Storyline and Premise of the Game
The main storyline to the game revolves around Bart buying a copy of Grand Theft Scratchy, only to have it taken away by Marge. A short while later, he discovers an instruction manual to Grand Theft Scratchy that has fallen from the sky. Reading it, he learns that each of the Simpsons members actually has unique special powers and they in turn make use of their powers throughout various levels in the game. The levels are all generally related to either making use of various characters in the Simpsons universe, various game parodies, or a combination of both. One of the most amusing parodies that I like is from a level called Neverquest, which has the Flanders kids and Ralph dressed like Hobbits and they assist you throughout the level.
The game itself is somewhat short for a game yet it feels lengthy due to the fact that it seems more like you’re playing the TV show rather than playing a game. Each of the 15 or so levels takes about 20-30 minutes to play through, and has animated cut scenes before and after the stage so each level feels like its own TV episode. On top of that, many of these levels are all accessed in the world of Springfield, which has been brought to life in the game. Imagine Springfield, Grand Theft Auto style. You are able to walk all around Springfield, with various characters in the game going about their usual business and making their own amusing comments. Unfortunately, besides the initial amusement you’d get from running into everyone in Springfield, there’s not much else. There aren’t open world missions like in Grand Theft Auto – basically just 15 different levels located at various places in Springfield.
It took about 7-8 hours for my brother and me to beat the game, but I spent another 12 hours going back and doing all of the extra stuff (mostly item collecting). I’d say it’s basically a ten hour game for most people – just about right for a game of this nature.
On the “themed” game levels such as Medal of Homer, the two playable characters dress appropriately
Gameplay Mechanics
The most important aspect of any game I play generally revolves around the game play mechanics. They have to be innovative or intuitive, while being challenging yet fun. For the most part, EA did a great job with the game play. The only main beef I have is with the camera. I guess for 3rd person games, the camera seems to be a difficult issue for many developers. When your character is in front of a wall, where does the camera go?
Like most 3rd person games with bad camera mechanics, the Simpsons Game camera stutters and becomes impossible to control in certain situations, sometimes resulting in frustrating deaths. Fortunately, EA has made the game very forgiving as it seems that they wanted this game not to be one of skill but one of entertainment. There are check points everywhere, and with two Simpsons characters present in every level of the game, one can immediately revive the other one (Gears of War style) if that character runs out of health. On top of that, if your character is hurt but not taking any damage, his/her life bar gradually refills to full (like any FPS game).
The reason why the game play is fun is because of the various “puzzles” throughout the game that make use of each Simpson’s special abilities. Each level in the game requires two specific Simpsons characters (i.e. on the level Medal of Homer, the two Simpsons characters for that level have to be Homer and Bart, on Neverquest, the two characters have to be Homer and Marge, etc.) since the puzzles are solved with those two. Since the puzzles often require both Simpsons characters to beat, the co-op is a lot of fun since it makes each player feel like he is contributing to the team. It felt like I was playing Cookies and Cream or even a raid in World of Warcraft (albeit with only two players instead of forty) since you needed both players’ different skills to get through each level. With the strong reliance on co-op, the co-op mode shines – but the negative aspect to that is that playing the game by yourself can be quite difficult.
It feels like The Simpsons game was not meant to be played alone, since when you play alone the game becomes a lot more difficult to be in charge of two characters. You are able to swap between the two characters at any time by just hitting the d-pad, but the computer does a pretty poor job of controlling the other character. Sometimes you’ll go through a level, expecting the AI to have the other character follow you, but then when you switch to the other character he’s all the way back at the beginning, or he’ll be dead. Other times, when you’re trying to pass a puzzle that requires both characters be in different areas to do different things, the AI will have the other character follow you to your spot and it can be annoying trying to get the other character to stay in their spot while you go to yours. All of the levels can be beaten playing alone, but playing through them after playing it co-op with my brother made me realize how much longer and more frustrating each level would have been.
The game is still enjoyable though due to the inherent use of each character’s skills. Each family member has certain fighting skills and certain puzzle solving skills that are all unique. I thought they were well utilized and fun.
Homer’s special ball ability allows him to roll around at ease.
Homer’s main fighting skills and puzzle solving skills are related – he is able to turn into a giant ball. While in his giant ball form, he can use a “turbo boost” to knock over opponents, fly from one ledge to another that could not normally be jumped by anyone else, and roll himself up/off ramps that no other Simpsons member could get to.
Bart utilizes his “Bartman” skills – he is able to use a grappling hook to reach higher places, the ability to use zip lines, and his cape allows him to glide from one area to another. His main weapon is the slingshot, which not only is used to attack enemies, but is sometimes used to hit buttons and break things that the other Simpsons members cannot reach.
Lisa’s hand of Buddha ability allows her to lift up tree stumps to make steps so that Bart can cross over and open the door
Lisa’s puzzle solving skill is a little more “out there” as she is able to meditate and use a “hand of Buddha” at certain stations throughout the game. These stations switch the level to an overhead map where she controls a huge hand from the sky like a crane in a crane game. This hand can pick up cars, destroy enemies, etc. but its main use is to move physically large things such as billboards and trees in such a way to form bridges and steps to progress further in a level. Her main weapon is her saxophone, an area attack that also causes enemies to become confused and attack each other.
Marge instructing her mob to tear down a Grand Theft Scratchy billboard
Marge’s skills are the most interesting – she has no unique fighting ability but like Homer, her main skill is used for fighting as well. Marge has the ability to recruit a mob. It’s funny because if she just walks up to any neutral character in the game and calls out to them through her microphone, they pick up a torch or pitchfork and follow her for the rest of the level or until they get knocked out. Marge is able to recruit up to like thirty people, and she can have her mob destroy things, attack enemies, construct buildable objects, and fix repairable buildings. It feels almost like a real time strategy game when one is controlling her, as you tell your mob to go attack people or build buildings.
Finally, Maggie, the last member of the Simpsons family, is actually an extension of Marge. Marge carries her wherever she goes and is able to put Maggie into any open air ducts that she comes across. Within the air ducts, the player takes control of Maggie (which amusingly, plays like Solid Snake) to navigate through these tunnels to go hit buttons or pull switches.
Now that you see how unique and entertaining each character’s specific skills are, you can see how the puzzles are put together and how a level may play out. For example, on a level where Marge and Lisa are trying to stop Grand Theft Scratchy from being released, the two of them storm through the level and draw a mob along the way. Marge recruits random Springfield occupants to destroy each of the Grand Theft Scratchy billboards, while Lisa makes use of the destroyed billboards to lay bridges for the mob to continue moving through the level. And of course, they have to deal with policemen, the main form of enemy in the level. Each level seems to have a combination of each character except for maybe Bart and Marge. Perhaps the combination of grappling hooks and gliding with mob building and destroying didn’t work out.
Poor Dr. Hibbert. If any of your mob members gets knocked out, just wait for them to get up again and recruit them back into the mob!
Achievement System
The Achievements in the Simpsons Game are just about right for the game. EA has been noted for having very difficult Achievements in their games, but with the Simpsons Game, they kept the Achievements relatively true to the nature of the game: fun. There are Achievements related to simply beating each level in the game. There are also separate Achievements for beating the “Time Trial” for each level as well – a challenging, yet far from impossible amount of time to fly through a level. Getting these Achievements will probably take about 10-12 hours.
The second half of the Achievements are more difficult – they require collecting various collectibles on each stage. Each of the four Simpsons characters has their own collectibles – Homer has Duff beer caps, Bart has Krusty comics, Lisa has Malibu Stacy seals, and Marge has coupons. On each stage, there are about five to ten collectible items for the characters playable for that stage. Some are in hard to reach spots, while others are completely out in the open. Finally, the town of Springfield itself has 75 collectibles for each character, for a total of 300 collectibles throughout the town. One may gawk at such a large number of collectibles like this used to artificially lengthen the game, but they weren’t too bad to get.
Unlike Lost Planet’s collectibles, in the Simpsons Game there is no timer that pressures one to find all the collectibles and beat the level. Before replaying a level, the level select screen shows how many of each collectible each of the Simpsons characters needs to get and if they come across one on the level that they’ve already gotten, a silhouette of the collectible is there, making it easier to figure out which ones are still needed.
Controlling two characters at once is definitely frustrating against bosses like this.
Final Thoughts
Even with its reliance on co-op game play and the sometimes difficult camera angles, I found the game to be quite enjoyable. It was surprisingly deep and intuitive while at the same time provided me a lot of chuckles and laughs throughout various game parodies in the game. I haven’t really referred to any of them specifically in the review, because if any of you decide to play it, it’s better if you hear/see the jokes for yourselves. When I think about the game, I want to play it again even though I already completed it. There aren’t too many games I’ve come across where after completing it, I wish it wasn’t over. The Simpsons Game is actually one of them!
I give the game a B-. The game play was unique and fun, but I think that my positive impressions about the game are biased due to the fact that I spent a majority of the game playing it co-op, hiding the frustrations that come from playing the game solo and having to control two characters. The presentation was top notch though: the storyline was entertaining and amusing, the world of Springfield was well realized, and it did in fact renew my interest in the Simpsons. It’s unfortunate that there is no co-op over Live (all of the “cool” games are doing it these days) nor is there any real replay value once the game has been completed. Your mileage may vary if you expect to play through it solo, but if you have someone to play it with from a couch and both of you are fans of The Simpsons, this isn’t a bad choice.
