Garfield is arguably the most famous fictional
feline of our time, though some would argue that his days of glory are long
behind him. Gluttonous and sadistic, he personified what many of us perceived
to be the true nature of the “domesticated” cat: a furry extension of the Dark
Lord himself. As his popularity grew, it seems Garfield became something of a
softie. He spent less time playing cruel tricks on his human master every
Sunday, and more time entertaining kiddies on Saturday mornings. Indeed,
Garfield Gets Real appears to continue the trend of his more recent
child-friendly antics.
After being digitally animated for a
live-action feature film, the pudgy protagonist found himself appearing in a
computer-generated animated series, alongside other comic characters. Garfield
Gets Real is based on a new film, which is based on this new series, which in
turn, was based on the original comic character. Confused, yet? The important
thing is that Garfield will not be making any dark jokes about how his uncle
was killed by a bus; this is absolutely a children’s game, with simple gameplay and basic concepts that probably won’t hold the attention of adults
for very long. The levels are designed around bizarre cinematic premises, each
one having a theatrical name, and it is Garfield’s job to ensure each scene is
perfectly executed.
In truth, the game’s premise is so ambiguously
introduced, it’s difficult to even rationalize any
of the absurd situations that Garfield must be guided through. Generally, none
of the mechanics feel unique or innovative. This is strictly a basic design
that happens to take place in the Garfield universe. In the first “scene,”
Garfield needed to perform all manner of improbable acrobatics in order to
“catch” books that were inexplicably flying off the shelves. In the following
level, Jon hurled bits of breakfast food through the air, so Garfield is
compelled to scurry around the screen in a desperate attempt to scarf
everything down. This premise, it seemed, at least made a bit more sense for a
Garfield game. In addition to the usual sausage and eggs, Mr. Arbuckle would
sometimes throw large plates at Garfield. Why he does this is not exactly
clear, as the plates shatter on impact and obviously can harm the hungry cat.
It is possible that the man could only take so many years of abuse from his
pet before finally fighting back.
Of course, this is hardly a deterrent for the
greedy Garfield. By the level’s end, he’s downed a breakfast so appallingly
fatty and rich, it would make Michael Phelps red
(or possibly green). There are also bonus tokens that can be collected for
more points, the idea being that you want the highest score possible for any
given “scene” before the final edit is submitted to the studio. Some levels
mix things up by introducing new settings, such as obstacle courses, but it’s
all rather easy to pick up since these mechanics have been used in countless
other games. During seemingly random parts of a level, the player needs to
make Garfield dance in the spotlight by using the D-Pad. Apparently, these are
important media photos for advertising purposes, the irony of course being
that the entire game feels like an advertisement for the DVD movie upon which
it is based.
As far as I can tell, Garfield Gets Real is
something best enjoyed by very young children, particularly those amused by
the latest animated Garfield cartoon. Strangely, there is no actual tutorial
in the game itself, so reading the poorly-written manual is practically
required for anyone who wants to understand what exactly the game expects of
them. Since this is clearly a children’s game, parents will be overjoyed to
learn they will have the task of studying and teaching the game mechanics to
their child. What fun.
While the levels themselves scroll in three
dimensions, Garfield Gets Real maintains a fairly modest presentation. It is
usually colorful and clear enough so that you can tell what is going on, even
if what’s going on doesn’t make much sense. The slowly-revealed yet strangely
unhelpful text throughout the game reinforces the “made for kids” element,
even when the lack of clear direction will obviously cause problems for
beginning players. The music is predictably zany, but the audio cues
(particularly Garfield’s responses when eating) are rather obnoxious. It is
disheartening to see that Garfield has been given such a poor treatment in
video-games. Only die-hard fans will feel the need to experience this game,
while the rest of us (even those of us under ten years of age) will find out
money better spent elsewhere.
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Gameplay: 5.5
There
is a bit of variety, and the pacing is decent, but the whole thing gets
tedious very quickly.
Graphics: 6.0
Some
effort to make the characters recognizable and lively, though it isn’t exactly
“eye candy.”
Sound: 5.0
You
can usually tell who is saying what, but the repetitive effects are incredibly
annoying.
Difficulty: Medium
There is no
tutorial to speak of, so many players will be
finding things out as they go along. At its core, Garfield Gets Real is a
prolonged reflex game.
Concept: 5.0
If
it wasn’t based on a movie, some of the content might feel genuinely original.
Even so, many of the scenarios are ridiculous rather than pleasantly
memorable.
Overall: 5.5
Some
decent variety in the mechanics and a fairly amusing premise aren’t enough to
save Garfield Gets Real from its monotonous and absurd level design. Very
young devotees may find it a briefly amusing adventure, but this really feels
more like an advertisement that someone is expecting you to pay money for.
