 Steven Spielberg has already made his contribution to the video game
world. His delightful and classic E.T. was the impetus for the great
video game crash, his franchise being transformed into a video game so
poorly planned that it spouted urban legends about entire junkyards
filled with cartridges. That event alone was enough, we didn’t need
anything else from the impressive movie director. We definitely didn’t
need his name senselessly plastered on a raucous, energetic and
senseless party game that involves exploding blocks.
Find out why after the jump.
The premise of Boom Blox, far as I can tell, is that for some reason there’s a crapload of blocks in a world populated by squarish animal things and as omnipresent overseer you get to throw stuff at said blocks and animals. Sometimes you do so to destroy, sometimes to protect, but at all times to be screwed by the physics system.
It starts simple enough. A stack of blocks sits in the center of a block-toppling arena, where all manner of animal dance and cheer you on. You flick your wrist, blocks fall down, children cheer. Ah, the sound of a child cheering at wanton destruction; that’s when you know it’s a family game! The process is simple, the blocks are varied, the towers set-ups are interesting...and it’s always fun to knock things down.
Then they start grading you on every ridiculous little task they can think of. You get two single-player options: explore mode or adventure mode. Explore mode is fun, in which you’re tasked to destroy a series of towers and levels with interesting layouts. Unfortunately, you have to do it perfectly to get the highest score, and some levels don’t give you any room to mess up a little. Sure, it’s a puzzle, but when it comes to precision shots you can’t control and just being generally unlucky, it’s easy to get stuck on a level, locking out a large portion of the game. Still challenging though, and you’ll tackle each puzzle with vigor.
Adventure mode, though, is just stupid. It starts out fine, knock down some towers, fight off some bears, and then it loses some of its focus. Suddenly we are trying to knock blocks off a bridge without toppling (challenging, but frustrating), mining gold by firing a rubber ball into a tunnel (how on Earth does that work?), or shooting monkeys gallery style (wait, wasn’t this a game about blocks?). The game just degenerates quickly, forgetting about its premise to give you more and more outrageous and unrelated tasks while ramping up the difficulty by making every damn mission an escort mission, making failure too easy and repetition absolutely necessary. For a game about throwing things at things, it lost itself rather easily.
Luckily the rest of the game is a bit more exciting. With 10+ different multiplayer modes, all with multiple level designs, you need to get your friends over to throw things at other things. Or play a round of electronic Jenga. Or shoot things, if that entertains you. The games are intuitive, only about one or two are really boring, and the pick-up value alone is worth the game if you have someone to play with. It’s obvious where the bulk of the programming went.
That and the create mode. The game allows you to randomly place blocks and stuff in pretty much every level, allowing you to make modifications and/or create overly complicated Rube Goldberg-like explosions. Being able to throw down any block and wreck havoc to your own creations is fun, although the maximum block cap seems to be a little low, and most of the choice goodies can only be unlocked by completing the horrible single player mode, so some options will always be closed to the majority of the players. Plus, it’s extremely difficult to affect three-dimensions with the control system. There are just too few buttons on the Wiimote to allow true manipulation of the atmosphere, and someone with mildly unsteady hands will have a tough time placing things exactly the way they want. While it’s fun in theory, and being able to share with friends is a plus, it’s not nearly as robust as it could be.
Not that you can create anything truly awesome with the environment provided. The aesthetic borders on “kiddie,” with bright colors and right angles ruling the day. It’s low-end graphics, something that you could get away with on the GameCube, or even the 64 if you tried really hard. While the physics are impressive (if unforgiving), the things that you can affect aren’t “cool,” being simple blocks or ridiculous block animals. Don’t get me wrong, it works for the medium, but it also makes it hard to take the game seriously. It’s easier to get upset at a game when it looks so childish.
But through it all, you are left with one question: what did Spielberg do? Did he come up with the story, because if he did, what is up with those stupid kittens? Did he do some actually designing, because that seems implausible at best? Or did he just walk into the studio, stand up on a chair, yell “I own you now!” and leave, collecting his big check from EA on his way out? Until I have some proof, I’m going to assume the last one.
Which is too bad, because this game would have stood up without his unnecessary endorsement. Sure, it’s frustrating and mildly ridiculous, but it’s also fun, using the technology as it was meant to be used: for cheap, gratuitous, hilarious gimmicks. The multiplayer stands up, and except for a few avoidable design flaws, what they have to offer will entertain for at least a month, more if you actually have a family. Don’t hesitate because of its flaws, it still stacks up next to the rest of the Wii games; too bad that isn’t saying much.
Oh, one more thing. Spielburg, the next game you do for EA...actually do something. Show us a grandious story or something. Let’s see some real dramatic camera cuts or whatever the hell it is directors do. No more hiding behind that “Creative Director” label.
Final Score: B
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