Over the past few years, developers
and publishers have been trying to push the boundaries of children’s games after
lackluster releases that weren’t so warmly received. While Disney games haven’t
been to the level of quality they were in the late ‘80’s (i.e. Disney’s
Rescue Rangers, Duck Tales, etc.), their latest release in the form
of Bolt has enough to offer the kids beyond a weekend rental. So let’s
dig deeper and see what this Disney Animation Film video game has to present to
gamers.
Having seen Bolt at E3 last
year, it was apparent then, as it is now, that Disney was attempting to create a
more adult themed game. Trying to convey serious tones while maintaining its
childish nature, Bolt should appeal to more than just the kiddies. Making
an effort to create a full out third-person action-adventure game, Bolt
allows players to control the title character along with his human
companion/owner Penny.
Deviating from the movie’s
storyline, the video game instead is based on if Bolt was actually a dog with
super-powers. If you’ve never seen the movie, Bolt is led to believe he’s a
super-powered dog since he stars in a television show. Not knowing the
difference from acting and reality, Bolt is a confused dog as he embarks through
the real world trying to find Penny. Now for the video game, the developers
decided to expand beyond the film’s plot, revealing new characters and
environments that weren’t be seen on the big screen.
Both Bolt and Penny have different
gameplay techniques. Penny’s style is more about stealth and sneaking around
enemies without having to engage in combat. On the other hand, Bolt is the
in-your-face fighter who’ll attack anything in his sight. Bolt also comes
equipped with super-powers including laser eyes to take down the enemies. Of the
two, Bolt turned out to be the most exhilarating to use if I had to pick one.
The super-powers are what make Bolt unique, so he’s much more fun than Penny’s
stealth elements.
There’s also your typical mini-games
included that are accessed when you begin to hack computers. You’ll collect
power-ups and destroying enemies with a hovering tank. You can always go back to
the mini-games from the main menu after unlocking them. Outside of that, Bolt
is pretty standard fare with your usual boss fights and destruction of levels.
Oddly enough, the game took longer to complete than originally conceived with
about seven hours of gameplay in my initial run-through.
Bolt isn’t all rainbows and
butterflies; there are a few bad decisions that were made when it came to the
design of the gameplay. Players may complain that they aren’t able to have full
control over their camera since it’s totally fixed on one position. Getting
stuck behind objects and screwing up the fluidity of the combat, gamers will
find it overwhelmingly frustrating when the camera goes bonkers. In addition,
the graphics are also sub-par and don’t fairly represent the film.
Overall, it’s a pretty standard game
with not much standing out besides the departure from the film’s storyline. It
should hold the attention of children easily, but adults of course won’t look
twice when going down the game aisle. If you’ve seen the movie and enjoyed it,
Bolt should be worth your time for at least a weekend rental.
Gameplay: 7.0
Differentiating between Penny and Bolt in terms of gameplay and control, the
game has enough entertainment value to provide children.
Graphics: 6.0
The developers didn’t do a good job putting together stable framerates nor
did they attempt to create realistic fur for Bolt.
Sound: 5.0
No John Travolta + no Miley Cyrus = no sale.
Difficulty: Easy
For the difficulty, the game’s audience is generally the 13 and under crowd,
so the game isn’t too difficult.
Concept: 7.5
Departing from the normal video game adaptation route, the developers put
together an interesting storyline for gamers to play through.
Overall: 6.5
While the movie was avidly more amusing, the video game is a quick fix if
you’re looking for a game that’s suitable for children. It has two varied
characters to use, mini-games to play through, and a storyline that’s different
from the movie. If that isn’t enough to attract you for a play-through, then you
might want to look elsewhere since it doesn’t do too much outside of what’s
expected of it.
