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Dont Waste your Money: Terrible Camera Views & Frustrating Controls

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: November 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The camera angles & views for this game are absolutely terrible. They change on their own way too much (often mid jump) making it impossible to see what you are doing or where you are going.

The controls for this game are horrible- they make game play unbelievable frustrating. You have to do the most meaningless tasks over and over again which completely drains the game of any fun.

Also the story line is weak and hard to follow, you dont really know whats going on or what you are supposed to be doing and you get very little guidance.

Bottomline: if your looking for a fun simpsons game look else where. (The Simpsons's Hit & Run game is awesome!)

Note: this review was based on the PS2 version of the game...

Very Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I tried playing this game twice and will probably never go back to it. The controls and the camera are very sloppy and amateurish. Pointing out 'cliche' gameplay doesn't make it any better; it's still fairly boring. Maybe later levels would be better but I just cannot be bothered playing to them. I thought Hit 'n' Run a much better game.

For a game making fun of other games, you'd think it'd be better

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For a video game that spends 90% of it's time making fun of video game cliches, this one has one more it could add to its list: the movie property video game that doesn't hit the spot. To compound matters, this is the one-hundredth Simpsons game to appear on the market and game designers still can't nail it.

The game - and conversely, gamers - delights in poking its tongue out at various video game styles and genres, even using dialogue sounds from other games to drive the point home. The problem? It's not anywhere near as fun as half the games it makes fun of.

It's too easy to progress through, the missions aren't terribly long, and this game easily has the worst camera control in any game, ever. The controls in general are a mess. For a game with graphics this simple, it certainly struggles to do even simple tasks right.

I have my beef with the games that come out - or that don't come out often enough - just like every other gamer. Thanks for pointing that out, Bart and Homer and Marge and Lisa. But could you have done it with a game that was actually fun to play? The jokes are cool, but I don't buy games for jokes. I buy them to enjoy playing a solid game.

This game shouldn't cost what new games cost. Rent it if you must, but don't but it unless you can get it used.

Good, but could be better

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun and the humor is pretty good. There are references to the show itself, and I truly do enjoy Comic Book Guy's numerous cliches.

The problem with this game, as others have indicated in their reviews, is the gameplay. I've never played a game where the camera angle is the biggest obstacle in the game, but that is the case here. It's a struggle to get the view you need to accomplish certain tasks. Then when you do, it can change on you by itself while you are in the middle of some critical action.

Bottom line, it's a good game that could be great if the designers just cleaned up the gameplay. That's always the most important part of any game.

Unpolished game that nicely captures the atmosphere of the show

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: November 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Simpsons have ventured into the world of video games before, with largely unsuccessful results. Now that EA has acquired the video game license rights, we get The Simpsons Game, which puts you in the shoes of America's favorite animated family. The first thing you'll notice is how good the game looks. Remember that this is a late in life PS2 game, but it looks surprisingly sharp and wonderfully captures the look and atmosphere of Springfield and it's inhabitants. The game also features voice work from the cast of the long running show, and they're all great as well, while the game's story and dialogue are frequently funny, and more than frequently spoof popular video games to boot. What really stops The Simpsons Game from being something special are the many technical problems that plague the game. First off, the in-game camera is schizoid to say the least, and will more often than not seem to work against you. Not to mention that the game's controls are pretty loose and unresponsive, combined with the somewhat shallow gameplay and repetitiveness, and the fact that the game can be finished in one sitting. If you can look past all these negatives though, you'll find one of the few licensed games that actually does it's license justice, but falls short in the gameplay department. That aside though, for any and every fan of the long running show, The Simpsons Game is definitely worth a look at the very least, and maybe next time EA will put on a finishing polish that will give us something really special.

d'oh!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Look, I love the Simpsons. I've been watching it for over 19 years now. I've been playing their games since the early 90s on the NES and playing games like "Bart vs. the Space Mutants". The games are really not that good. The game companies just milk and overkill the Simpsons name in an attempt to make money. It happens all the time with other games as well. This game has some positive things going for it such as really spectacular graphics and some fun puzzle games, but don't expect the game to stand the test of time. That's the difference between the animated comedy we see every Sunday night and the video games. The TV show rules, the games don't.

A decline in challenge

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game started off easy and most of the levels were so simple that even a child could do it. The game does have classical Simpsons characters, like Mr. Sparkle and Itchy and Scratchy and of course Poochy of which isnt that classical. Leading up to the battle with Matt Groening its pretty simple, the items mean nothing in this game, so there is no point in collecting them. The final level is easy but unless you can do Dance Dance Revolution then you will have trouble with beating the game. The funniest characters had to be in the Mr. Sparkle level, the comic book guy themed sumos. The reference to japanese style Pokemon battles was really funny. But in the end this game was somewhat a disappointment, the game was fun but once you got to the final level and if you could last through seven rounds of Dance Dance Revolution then you can beat it, or you can use the cheat code to get the movies unlocked just for the time your playing.

Decent

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: November 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game isn't too bad. Most of the challenges involve a pair of the Simpsons family solving puzzles in a 3D environment (i.e. climbing a tower, using Homer to throw Bart with a see-saw, etc). I'm only two hours into the game, but it is fun and the TV show references are numerous. Just hoping it is more than "solve this obstacle" every level. We'll see...

Mediocre Gameplay but Fantastic Production Values

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: November 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Simpsons isn't new to the gaming world by any means. But it's been over a decade since they actually had a true video game. For years we've seen Simpsons games that were just knock offs of other games like The Simpsons Road Rage or Hit and Run. The Simpsons Game, however, is its own thing. After nearly twenty years of a successful television run, a blockbuster movie and having an influence on our culture as a whole, The Simpsons finally get a true video game to call their own. It isn't as good as the 90's original arcade game, but it's by far one of the best video game outings The Simpsons have had in a while. By far this is one of the better games based off a TV show to hit the video game market yet.

The first thing to get out of the way is simple. Any huge fan of the show will absolutely love this game. The writing staff hopped on board to do the writing and they do a fabulous job. It's full of all the clever wit of the show along with several references to show as a whole. Many of the levels are centered around events which actually took place in episodes. The game serves as brilliant fan service to those who have come to love and admire the show over the past twenty years. Not only that, but it's easily one of the funniest games ever made.

Just like the show, you should expect it to be full of parodies and poking fun. And in this game it does all of that. It especially makes plenty of pokes at the gaming industry as a whole. If you're a hardcore gamer this game only becomes that much funnier when you see parodies of some of your favorite games like Everquest, Medal of Honor, and Grand Theft Auto. There are also jokes about some of the other aspects of the game presented by Comic Book Guy. Moments where you discover you can't swim for example. Or Invisible walls. All of these are things that have been done in video games several times and The Simpsons Game decides to make fun of them. They even managed to get some people from the video game industry in here to do some cameos. For The Simpsons fan and gamer, it's almost heavenly the amount of humor and pop culture references that are here. You'll most certainly being dying of laughter throughout the entire adventure.

Even better. The game looks and sounds just like the show. The graphics have the look and feel of the show and the actual voice cast came on the lend their voices. In short, in reality it's like you're getting a full blown episode of the show that's well... hours long. And it works. The production values of this game make you put aside the mediocre gameplay in part because the game makes fun of itself too by being packed full of cliches they mock.

And that's where the problem with The Simpsons Game comes into play. The developers spent so much time on the production values of the game that they didn't spend nearly as much time perfecting the overall gameplay experience. That's not to say the gameplay doesn't have its merits. It certainly does. It's just that the gameplay only meets the standards, it doesn't try to exceed them.

Throughout the game you'll play as The Simpsons family. In every level there is at least one other Simpson to control and you can switch between them as often as you like. And you'll have to considering some of the puzzles you'll be doing. Each level is fairly open ended with bad guys coming at you left and right. Every Simpson has standard attack and a fairly special one. Bart, for example, can use his slingshot for standard attacking, but he can also become Bartman and glide all over the place. Some characters have downright zany powers, though. Lisa, for example can summon a giant hand, and she uses her saxophone to fight off baddies with music. It's a little over the top but then again, The Simpsons has never been a show grounded in reality.

There's also co-op play but it feels like a last minute thought at times. This is because in some levels it is more than obvious that certain characters aren't really needed for anything other than pummeling your enemies. Only certain characters are suited for certain tasks. It's fine on single player, but on co-op your partner can sure feel useless at times. Just the same, however, the AI isn't really all that bad. While it's pain to have to keep an eye on both health gauges for those who have a go at single player, your partner can really hold his or her own in just about any situation. So it's nice that you don't have to constantly babysit an AI controlled character.

There's not much to the gameplay, but at least it's simple and easy to pick up on. But there's so much more that could've been done with it. It gets repetitive in many areas. At the very least, however, each new level you go to is distinguished from the previous one. And while the objectives are not by any means difficult to reach (it's a pretty easy game) you'll have some fun. There are also a lot of collectibles to uncover throughout the game. Each level is just teeming with items for The Simpsons clan to obtain.

As I said, however, it's a game that meets the standard but doesn't really try to exceed it. The good news is that the humor keeps you going through the game, even when the gameplay gets tiring. Simply because a laugh out loud video game. This game was definitely made for Simpsons fans and gamers alike. And despite the gameplay the humor and production values really make this a unique gameplay experience.

If anything, The Simpsons Game is worth a look just for the production values alone. It's funny, it carries the look of the show, it was written by the writers of the show and even includes the voice cast from the show. What's not to like about the production values for the hardcore Simpsons fan?

Pros:

+The production values are some of the best to ever be done in a TV gone video game. The clever witty writing of the show comes out. The clever parodies come out. It's just an all around funny game filled with gaming culture references.

Cons:

-The other thing we must face, the gameplay could've been so much better. It's not bad by any means, but certainly isn't as good as it had the potential to be.

Awesome!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As an avid gamer I'm always hesitant about licensed games but the Simpsons fan in me overrode my common sense, and thank god it did. While the game falls under fairly traditional platform game fair the puzzles are actually really well thought out. Using the two characters available to you per level you will be tasked with harnessing each member of the Simpsons family skills to advance. Something I found to be a lot of fun on my own but quickly became extra awesome with a friend. The comedy is spot on and all of the voice actors loan their talents to make the game feel like an episode of the TV show. The only major gripe I have is the typical platform game camera that rarely points in the right direction without your hands on control. Definitely worth the d'oh!

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