Bratz: Girls Really Rock – WII – Review

During the
opening moments of the game, there was a feeling of deep dread, the certainty
that this was a game that was going to be a fixture playing in the background in
the living room, driving the songs into the brain with all the subtlety of a
sledgehammer hurled by Thor.

There was
almost that High School Musical vibe to it; several girls were ditty-bopping
down the street, launching into song, much to the delight of the 12-year old
girl holding the Wii remote, the incredulousness of her 14-year-old sister and
the horror of the pretender to the title of head of household (no male truly
runs a household comprised of ‘barely’ teen girls).

But the set-up
proved to deliver more than the game itself could supply and what started with
promise soon denigrated into a game that was frustrating to control and
ultimately cast aside by the soon-to-be-teen … and all within about 70 minutes
of launch.

The concept
behind Bratz: Girlz Really Rock has the foursome of Jade, Sasha, Cloe and Yasmin
at a camp when they are informed of a contest that could allow them to star in a
movie by a director of renown. Of course, being the Bratz, the girls have just
got to win those roles, and so the girls (or is that girlz?) embark on an
adventure that runs through mini-games with musical-rhythm influences while
altering their looks as often as possible to achieve that right image. They will
journey through the campgrounds, meeting NPCs and engaging in several
activities.

Because this is
a camp (Camp Starshine), you are home-based in a cabin, which serves as the hub
for switching characters, changing clothes, hairstyles and makeup. By venturing
out and about, you will gain access to new wardrobe choices. There is even a
mini-game that will have you posing one of the girls and taking their picture.

In addition to
the “rockin’ guitar/ jammin’ keyboard” and “sizzlin’ moves” rhythm games that
have you tapping buttons in time to the music, there are other mini-games such
as mini-golf madness, fashion design and X-treme skydiving. While the hair
styling, makeup and clothes mini-games are intended to keep the attention of
young girls, it all starts to blend together into a repetitious morass that
lacks any sense of depth.

The sound
quality is not too bad, but the graphics are not up to Wii standards. There is a
muddy quality to them that really drains enthusiasm. A game like this should be
bright and colorful, almost leaping off the screen. Unfortunately this title
falls well short of that.

Emma, the
tester, complained often that she couldn’t get the Bratz to do what she was trying
to tell them to do. It finally got to the point where she simply decided she had
played the game enough and didn’t wish to continue. Even the inclusion of
playing against another player in the mini-games (two people, each armed with a
Wii-mote, can square off in mini-game competition at any time) didn’t tempt her
to play any more.

Bratz: Girlz
Really Rock is not an innovative game. It follows some well-trod story paths and
simply tries to entertain with concepts that the dev team thought would appeal
to younger girls. Unfortunately, the game lacks the polish to do that.

Gameplay: 4.0
The controls are
very frustrating. While simplified for the mini-games, for the most part, moving
the Bratz around the camp creates problems.

Graphics: 3.8
The game should be
vibrant and lush. It’s not.

Sound: 4.2
Some of the music
has that “I’m going to have you humming this when you are trying to get to sleep
tonight” feel, but fortunately it does not linger long enough to have that
effect. The game really supplies what is expected from a Bratz game and nothing
more.  

Difficulty: Medium
So rated for the frustrating controls schemes.

Concept: 3.5
This game might have
had potential but with nothing original offered and poor elements, it misses the
mark.

Multiplayer: 4.2
You can play the
mini-games against another person, and that is much better than playing them
solo.

Overall: 3.9
This is a game that
frustrated and didn’t do what a Bratz game should have done – hooked in the
young girl gamer and have her enthralled. It fails on so many levels that it is
an easy game to recommend not picking up. There are better Bratz games out
there.