 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Artificial Mind and Movement |
| Publisher: | Midway | |
| Genre: | Platformer | |
| ESRB: | Everyone 10+ | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Nunchuk | |
| Buy Now: |   |
The Ant Bully, a CGI-based animated movie released in late November, received mixed reviews from critics. Although praised for its animation and voice acting, it was also criticized for being a little too similar to other recently released movies such as Antz and Open Season. Although I haven’t seen the movie, based on that I can tell you that the game is the exact opposite: although a mess technically, the storyline and Wii control scheme make it a solid choice for younger gamers.
As Lucas, child turned into ant-sized child that fights like an ant, you’ll take on a variety of missions in an attempt to prove yourself to the ant colony, win over big meanie Zoc’s trust, and hopefully be returned to your normal size having learned important ant life lessons. The missions that make up the 8 hour or so adventure are doled out from one of the four main non-playable characters, with Fugax providing scout missions (mostly beating up other bugs), Hova offering protection missions, Kreela asking Lucas to go forage for things, and finally Zoc’s various trials. This setup somewhat hides the fact that most missions are pretty similar; for example, several of Zoc’s trials involve collecting things, so there’s really little difference between those and the foraging ones. Many other missions overlap similarly, with only a select few truly unique from the rest.
Gameplay makes full use of both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Lucas’ primary weapon of choice is his staff, which can be used by swinging the Wii Remote from side to side or pressing the B trigger. The latter is a little more precise, but not nearly as fun. I found myself switching between the two (either can be used at any time), using the B trigger most of the time and then swinging the Remote against easier enemies. The B trigger can also be used to execute charged attacks by holding it down, and then swinging the Wii Remote up and down or side to side. I found the charge attacks hard to pull off however, as it would usually take several regular attacks in rapid succession before the game would recognize that I wanted to charge up rather than go for a quick attack. It was also much faster to simply beat ‘em down with rapid-fire attacks, so the charge attacks were generally more trouble than they were worth.
The D-pad is used to select one of the four weapons available in the game, while the A button is used to interact with the environment. In addition to his staff, Lucas also gains over the course of the adventure a Larva Silk Squirter (shoots goo that temporarily immobilizes enemies), a Dart Bow (good against flying enemies out of range of the staff), and Seed Bombs (blow up groups of enemies and walls to access new areas). All four weapons can be locked on to enemies, and in the case of the Squirter and Bow can also be independently aimed (when not locked on) by moving around a cursor controlled by the Wii Remote. I found the independent aiming useful in a few situations, but for the most part had little use for it.
The Nunchuk controls character movement with the control stick, and more importantly controls the camera. Basically, tilting the Nunchuk controls the direction and speed the camera moves, so gently tilting it moves it slightly while really rolling your wrist moves the camera quickly. Doing that while moving took me a few minutes to get used to, but I quickly adjusted to it and was able to control the camera with ease. It’s a much more natural way of handling the camera than simply mapping it to an analog stick, that’s for sure. The C button is used to toggle into first-person view, which is only really useful later in the game whenever you receive special goggles needed to easily find Fire Crystals with. Finally, the Z button is used for locking on to enemies, and just re-centering the camera behind Lucas in general.
One of the primary ways Lucas will navigate the environment while completing missions is through the use of telepathy. By holding down the A button on marked spots, Lucas can summon the Ant Calvary to assist him. These ants can be used to form ladders, bridges, slingshots, and even an ant slinky. Using ant ladders is simple; you just climb up them. The bridges are slightly harder, as you have to balance with the Nunchuk while going across to keep from falling off. With the ant slinky, the player either tilts forward or back on the Nunchuk to move from one platform to the next. At times there will be enemies or obstacles blocking the path, so the player must take care of them (or wait for them to move) before proceeding.
Finally, with the slingshot the player moves the Nunchuk back and forth like a fishing rod to build up momentum, then presses the A button at just the right time to slingshot Lucas far across the level. It can be hard to judge exactly where Lucas will land with these (the on-screen arrow is little help, as it cannot be seen half the time) but pulling them off is a lot of fun.
Another way Lucas will navigate includes using flower petals to ride wind currents from one location to the next. Tilting the Nunchuk forward or backward determines how aggressively he rides the current, and in general you’ll want to tilt forward to get maximum distance. Lucas can also climb up the side of walls by finding specially marked ant paths. As you progress in the game, you’ll be able to climb longer distances, eventually gaining the ability to climb forever. The game also apes Zelda, as both jumping and climbing onto ledges are handled automatically. Scaling ledges is another instance where the game fails a bit technically, as it will usually take a couple of seconds of pressing against a wall before the game registers it and Lucas jumps up.
Posted: 2006-12-19 11:55:01 PST