The Spiderwick Chronicles – 360 – Review

Arthur
Spiderwick made a most unusual discovery in the very plot of land he called home
and it consumed his thoughts enough that he dedicated most of his life trying to
discover its many interesting and occasionally dangerous secrets. A scholarly
man with an inventive and curious streak, Arthur documented his findings in an
unusual book he called “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World
Around You.” The book, you see, was magical and in the end, Arthur mysteriously
vanished. This is the back-story behind the series of popular children’s books
called The Spiderwick Chronicles and the basis for the recently released movie
adaptation and finally the game.

The Spiderwick
Chronicles for the Xbox 360 uses the movie to move the story forward via crisp
and clear footage from said film and even uses the likeness of each actor
featured in the movie. The game revolved around the Grace children – identical
twins Jared and Simon and their sister Mallory. You see, they are distant
relatives of Arthur Spiderwick and they inherit the house. It isn’t until Jared
makes a rather unusual discovery in the kitchen that magical events begin to
unfold right before his eyes.

Beginning with
the discovery of a secret dumbwaiter that leads up to Arthur Spiderwick’s hidden
study. It is there that Jared meets an annoying brownie named Thimbletack who
tells him that there is an unseen world beyond what they see with their own two
eyes. A big part of the game is discovering this world by exploring your
surroundings inside the house as well as outside it as either Jared, his less
athletic twin Simon and their sister who is a fencing enthusiast. Using Arthur’s
Field Guide, you find a way to “see” the otherworldly creatures such as Sprites,
goblins, trolls and ogres.

Aside from
freely exploring the interior of the Spiderwick home, you’ll be able to move
about in the garden and beyond the estate’s main gates. It is outside that the
three children not only discover their talents but also the power of Sprites and
how to eliminate goblins. You’ll encounter many a Sprite flying around like
insects and thanks to a bug-catcher net, you’re able to catch them. Catching a
Sprite opens up a mini-game that has you moving a paintbrush along an empty page
from the Field Guide in order for you to quickly reveal the image the particular
Sprite you just caught. Successfully revealing the image will grant you the
Sprite’s individual powers. For instance, the Will-O-the-Wisp Sprite sends that
Sprite out to distract goblins while the Pondskater Sprite grants you temporary
invulnerability.

Combat is
actually handled well in this game and each character’s ability to instantly
target the nearest threat makes fighting off waves of enemies a lot smoother and
less clunky than the combat seen in The Golden Compass. Here, Jared is the
powerhouse with his bat and Mallory is the stylish fighter with her fencing
foil. The weakest fighter is Simon with his spray gun and thankfully, you don’t
have to play him all that much since the game transitions nicely between the
characters but gives Jared more preference. You’ll be grateful for the solid
combat controls since you’ll be facing off against goblins but also huge trolls
that will give chase. If a goblin does manage to get the upper hand, you’ll be
able to shake it off with the left thumb stick.

There are also a
number of puzzles in the game and, for the most part, most of them are nicely
challenging while the earlier ones are just plain simple. The easier puzzles
consist of gathering the right items or elements to make an item of great
importance while the more challenging ones have you attempting to decipher
riddles like the one that has you using certain Sprites to open a hidden path.
Unfortunately, there are also some weak aspects to the game such as taking
control of the repellant Thumbletack. Yes, it’s good to have yet another
gameplay element that adds more variety to the game but the character is way too
annoying and he moves unsteadily. If you didn’t like him in the movies, you will
absolutely hate him in the game. The game also contains too many load screens
and you have to unlock the multiplayer mode by completing certain chapters in
the single-player mode.

Graphically, The
Spiderwick Chronicles is neither a beautiful game nor is an eyesore. For the
most part, the visuals looks as though they belong on the original Xbox but then
again there are times when the visuals really sparkle and everything from
characters to backgrounds appear better. The cut scenes use footage from the
film and the footage looks like it comes from a Blu-ray DVD. What really shines,
however, are the visual effects. The particle effects and interesting lighting
effects are impressive.

The sound is
also something of a mixed bag thanks to the inconsistency in the voice acting.
At times the children’s voices sound top notch and then there are a number of
moments when their performance sound phoned in or rushed. Still, these are minor
complaints seeing as the Robb Mills musical compositions are phenomenal and thus
making the score a highlight. The sound effects are also done well so you will
want to play this game on a good sound system.

In the end, The
Spiderwick Chronicles is actually quite entertaining and the variety in gameplay
adds a nice touch to an adventure game that’s not perfect but not bad either. In
fact, there are a number of fun levels and even the combat can be entertaining.
There are a few elements that aren’t as finely polished as other aspects of the
game but they don’t get in the way of the things that actually work well for t
his movie licensed game. Fans of the series and film will have fun with this one
so give this game a try or at least a rental.

Review Scoring Details for The Spiderwick Chronicles

Gameplay: 7.0
The game’s
chapters are short but sweet and there is no shortage of different things to see
and do in this game. Various aspects of the game, such as the Sprites and
puzzles, work well but others (repainting the same Sprites all over again) just
grow too frustrating. Oh, and Thimbletack’s levels are as annoying as the
character itself. 

Graphics: 8.0
Visually,
there are times when the game looks like an excellent original Xbox game and
then there are times when the graphics are crisp and true to the Xbox 360. At
least the movie clips are delightfully sharp and the special effects light up
the screen nicely.

Sound: 8.5
The voice
acting can go from decent to pretty bad throughout the game but what remains to
be truly impressive is the absolutely gorgeous soundtrack. Aside from the
beautiful score are the nicely done sound effects that are wonderfully detailed.

Difficulty:
Medium
Combat can get
pretty challenging at times even with upgraded weapons and Sprites to aid you so
expect to clobber your fair share of goblins and trolls. Older gamers will
appreciate the more challenging puzzles while some younger gamers might be stuck
in certain ones. Still, there is nothing here that will have you too stumped for
very long.

Concept: 7.5
The game makes
good use of the movie license so there are a number of things gamers will
quickly identify while playing the game. There are some inventive uses for the
Sprites and even capturing them is a mini-game. Different characters offer
different experiences … although in Thimbletack’s case it’s not a very good
experience. There’s multiplayer but you have to unlock it by completing the
single-player portion.

Multiplayer:
6.0
Why you have
to go through the single-player game to unlock the game’s weak multiplayer mode
is beyond me but at least there is a multiplayer mode. Your best bet is to
unlock co-op if you want to replay the game with a friend.

Overall: 7.0
The Spiderwick
Chronicles for the Xbox 360 is an entertaining adventure game with just enough
variety and inventive puzzles to please fans of the movie or books. There are
certainly a few rough spots here and there and the visuals are not as
eye-catching as they should be but the game has a number of fun moments that
should not be missed by fans of the series.