 Review By: Andrew Joy |
Developer: | Heavy Iron Studios |
| Publisher: | THQ | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Everyone | |
| # Of Players: | 1-4 Alternating, 2 Simultaneous | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Nunchuk | |
| Buy Now: |   |
When I first started playing Ratatouille, making my way through French countryside that is your tutorial (guided along by Remy’s brother, Emile), I felt right away that something was wrong with the controls. Strangely enough, though, I never really could pinpoint anything – though they did seem mapped out oddly, the game controls just fine! This is one of those games that requires the Nunchuk, so player motion is naturally controlled by its analog stick, and you can run by depressing the Z button. To jump and double jump you press A. And, in a truly Gears of War-like fashion, almost everything else is controlled by a single button (and that is probably the only time you’ll see Ratatouille compared to Gears, so remember this day): In order to climb a wall, walk a tight rope, run across a beam, make some context-sensitive jumps, swing on a pole, climb a pipe, grab an object and activate your keen connoisseur/rat sense of smell (which helps lead you to your objective...a bit like Link’s wolf form in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess), you’ll use the B button on the Wii Remote. As for things not covered by that little trigger, swinging the controller causes Remy to attack (either with a tail-spin or a spoon if he is holding one), tapping C centers the camera behind him and holding it down and pointing with the Wii Remote allows you to manually adjust it, and, finally, plus and minus pause the game and remind you of your objectives, respectively.
I know it is a sad thing to say, and perhaps someday it won’t be true, but for now it stands: You don’t even have to see the movie to know that the video game version of Ratatouille looks nothing like it. Based on what I have seen, from commercials, TV spots and some of the assets you can unlock, some details, like the faces of the human characters, are done well enough that you know who each character is supposed to be. However, nothing that really proves the capabilities of the developer or the system. Unfortunately, unless you’re a really awful player, you won’t spend a whole lot of time looking at their faces, but rather their ankles, so it is really a moot point anyway. As for things you will see a lot of, the levels themselves, in addition to being well designed, look pretty decent, but it is everything else that leaves me asking for a little more effort. The items you can interact with and your enemies all seem rushed and lack detail. Heck, even Remy the main character looks a bit like a chuck of steel wool with eyes! All in all, it is a lack of polish that keeps this game from standing out among licensed titles...but if developers ever bothered to put that extra work into those titles (and publishers gave them the time to do it), licensed games might not have developed such a bad reputation in the first place. The audio isn’t much to speak of in this game either, except to say I can’t tell if they are the same actors from the movies or not, and if I can’t find any telltale differences, I’m sure the target audience won’t either.
Thanks in part to all those substance-lacking mini-games and the previously mentioned failings in the story telling, Ratatouille is short...very short. Playing just a few hours each day, I easily managed to beat this game in a weekend. This is helped, of course, that there are goals outside the main game. Scattered throughout each level, you’ll find various collectible objects – such as batteries and soap – that can be used to upgrade your little rat city and dozens of stars that are used to purchase a great many things. For use in the game, you can purchase a number of cheats, such as giving Remy a trail of fire when he walks. Outside of it, you can purchase variety of Pixar assets, both for Ratatouille (including everything from concept art to a glimpse at how they create their impressive 3D models) and their next film, WALL-E. You can also unlock a number of mini-games, for both single and multiple players. The single player mini-games are ripped right out of main game, letting you try your hand at the dream sequences, slide races and cooking trials anytime you want. For multiple players, you can race boats, try to balance on a tight rope, have a competition to collect the most hard-to-reach stars and a sort of sumo match where you are both balancing on top of balls. With their inventive nature and support for up to four players, the multiplayer mini-games, while just as short-lived as the single player ones, may be one of Ratatouille’s only saving graces.
Bottom Line:
I began reviewing Ratatouille with perhaps higher expectations than I should have. While licensed games, on the whole, tend to be bad, I had hoped that the better-than-average source material might translate into a better-than-average title. And, you know what? It wasn’t that bad...at first. In the beginning, I was quite impressed by some of the platforming I encountered and the way some of the genius level design could make a normally restrictive space seem so much larger. However, it didn’t take long (thanks in part to the game’s short length) for things to get worrisome, as the game shifted from storytelling to tasking me with one mini-game after another. In fact, in the last mission of the game, your character more or less runs a gauntlet, preparing dish after dish to the point that you’re ready to take out the disc and fling it across the room. Sheer repetitive nature aside however, the game still has a few high points, including some quality voice acting (when it is used) and some enjoyable multiplayer activities. So, for the kiddies, especially the ones who’ve seen the movie ahead of time, Ratatouille could be a fine diversion, but just as a rental and certainly nothing more.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 6.5 |
Posted: 2007-10-20 13:19:16 PST