To tell the truth, I didn't know what got into me. I was at the store looking for my Christmas presents, and I wanted a game with a wifi label. At the moment, I had 3 choices: Final Fantasy III, Star Fox Command, and Open Season. I already had plans to get the other 2, so I went with the latter. And surprisingly, it's not NEARLY as bad as you would expect from a licensed game, but still a bunch of crappy junk in comparison to, lets say, a certain Blizzard game.
Gameplay/Controls:
If you were around in the early nineties like I was, then you may have heard of a cult classic known as the Lost Vikings. Basically, 3 Scandenavian dweebs walked around a variety of stages, working together to solve puzzles. Open Season borrows it's level design and concept from the former, and while the dull puzzles makes it inferior to Lost Vikings, it's a great alternative for those who don't have an SNES and can't find the rare
GBA version.
7
Graphics: Considering that this game was based on a CG Movie, it's no surprise that the visuals here are, for the most part, absolutely gorgeous. Whether it's the opening video that was made by top animators at Actimagine Video Codec or the cheery in-game polygons, everything looks at least slightly on par with the blockbuster film. Waterfalls flow, Boog's hair shows, and the rich (if not slightly unoriginal) levels all will make you say “WOW! This is the sexiest movie game ever!”.
9.5
Audio: As you'd expect from a title about two animals going throught the woods, the soundtrack, while not exactly Grammy-caliber alone, fits the mood perfectly. Not only is this the first game that can play the banjo since, well, Banjo Tooie, but there are also lots of fun sound-bytes that play every now and then (which, believe it or not, normally don't get old).
8.5
Wifi: Through this review, you've probably been waiting for me to diss this game, so here it goes: Even though it has the wifi label on the box, the only thing in this package that's online is a SINGLE MINIGAME. And of course, it's going to take A LOT of work to get someone to play around the same time as you!
4
Replay Value: This is another thing that is ho-hum about Open Season. After you beat the game, you have basically NOTHING to bring you back!
4
Conclusion: Guys, I'm sorry that this review isn't as polished as usual, but it's just that there is truly NOTHING more I could say about the game. If you see it on sale, it's worth picking up for the sharp presentation, but when you do, prepare for a one-hit wonder.
Final Score: 6.6
Note: Sorry for the lack of pics. I couldn't find any dual-screened ones :(
Linear Mode
