Ratatouille is Pixar’s eighth
animated film and boy does it deliver. The story revolves around Remy, a cuisine
loving rat who wants to live in Paris and taste the best food in the world. To
fulfill his dream, Remy must leave his home and clan that he shares with his
brother Emile and father Django who both oppose the idea. Thus, the story takes
off once a succession of events drives Remy away from home and into the heart of
Paris.
The film did a great service to its
audiences with intelligent dialogue, well thought-out scenes, and humor all
throughout the storyline. The Xbox 360 video game doesn’t do as well as the
movie – though I didn’t expect it to. Ratatouille on the 360 is basically a
kid-friendly platformer that loosely ties into the plot of the film.
Gameplay is primarily focused on
platforming – not something I expected about a movie revolving around cooking. I
would have loved to see Ratatouille turn out similar to Cooking Mama, but
it instead was turned into another generic platformer. While the storyline
tackles the life of stealing food with Remy’s rat clan, it does concentrate on a
few integral plot points from the movie.
Players will be swinging, jumping,
climbing, and running their way around environments – typical of any platformer
nowadays. There’s no innovation to be found. There are chase scenes scattered
throughout the game to keep it interesting – this is where a lot of the humor is
found. The humans will chase players down hoping to eradicate Remy though never
succeeding with the player’s abilities to run away.
Ratatouille became repetitive half
way through and I wanted to rush through to completion in hopes to finding a new
outlook on the missions, but sadly there wasn’t much there being offered. There
happen to be a few unlockable mini-games that will have you smashing boxes to
collect items. The replay value of Ratatouille is quite low with a short
storyline and boring mini-games.
There are a few problems with the
game; namely the game has a feeling of being unfinished. The controls are
user-friendly, though there will be camera troubles and a few hiccups with
glitches that throw everything off balance. This shouldn’t hold back players
from completing the game, but beware of the camera problems as it persistently
frustrated me.
The quality of the graphics doesn’t
match what’s currently being put out on the 360. Ratatouille could easily be
mistaken for a regular Xbox game if it wasn’t for the lighting and fur on the
rats. Overall, the graphics are nothing to write home about. The sound on the
other hand is pleasing to the ears with a well rounded voice cast.
The films motto, “anyone can cook”,
could be applied to Ratatouille with a few changes. “Anyone can play this game,”
sure it’s not the best selling point, but for parents looking their next
purchase for their child, Ratatouille is a good pick-up.
Review Scoring Details for Ratatouille |
Gameplay: 6.7
Ratatouille is a mediocre game in the department of explaining the
storyline. The missions end up being a pain towards the end of the game, so take
it slow and don’t overload yourself as you play through.
Graphics: 6.9
The fur looks great! Unfortunately, the rest of the graphics fall short of
impressive.
Sound: 7.0
I will compliment the developers for including the cast members of the movie
in the voice-casting; it helps put together a nice feeling of authenticity for
the game.
Difficulty: Easy
Directed towards a younger crowd, Ratatouille is an excellent choice for
children since it has an uncomplicated control scheme.
Concept: 6.0
Here are three opinions I stand by: movie games are boring, monotonous and
flat out predictable. Ratatouille doesn’t break the mold.
Multiplayer: 5.5
The mini-games are tiring. There’s not much here in terms of multiplayer
that could have been included.
Overall: 6.6
The games mechanics are solid enough to warrant a play through. I suggest
avoiding the game until you have watched the movie so there are no spoilers. The
movie is well worth the admission. The game, on the other hand, is a mixed bag
and will be enjoyed most after you have viewed the movie.
