Incredibles
Posted December 19, 2004
With the successes of Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo it seems that Disney/Pixar can do no wrong and they prove that with The Incredibles. Already doing phenomenally in theaters you can hardly walk anywhere without seeing movie related merchandise or reading critical appraise for the film. It should be no surprise then that with the amount of movie related tie-ins these days a game has been released in time for the Holidays.
Does the game match the quality that the picture exudes or does it wind up less than incredible? After watching the movie I was looking forward to playing the game even though I usually stay away from movie to game ports because they tend to disappoint. While The Incredibles is not a horrible game by any standards it's just not as enjoyable as its namesake.
In the event that you have not seen the movie, here's a briefing about what's going on because while the game has cut scenes from the movie it leaves out 80% of the story. In a time where superheroes saved the world and stopped crime at the drop of a hat, Mr. Incredible was king. He was revered by his hero peers and adoring public alike, but unfortunately times change. On one fateful evening he stops a man from jumping to his death and in turn gets sued because the guy didn't want to be saved.
This starts a chain of events that leads to the end of the super powers and normal humanity takes control of its own destiny. While the heroes slipped out of sight they didn't disappear all together and they are living among you and I going through day-to-day life. The same mundane fate has befallen Mr. Incredible and he has slipped into depression for the lost glory days and being stuck in a dead end job.
He does have a family that he loves, but much like a middle aged man buying a Porsche he yearns for more and has something to prove. Through a series of events he is catapulted into action and soon is whole family follows suit. Their goal is to stop a maniacal inventor bent on killing all superheroes and only the Incredibles have the power to stop him. That's where you come in, taking control of the super family in a quest to save the world from destruction yet again.
Gameplay:
At its heart The Incredibles is a platformer, and an extremely boring one at that. You can see everything each character has to offer within the first few minutes of their specific stage. Once you realize that, you will become increasingly bored and agitated as the level and game progress making you constantly repeat your actions over and over again.
Each of the super family finds themselves in a stage that is designed around them with their powers in mind. You'll be spending the bulk of your gaming as Mr. Incredible pounding skulls and blowing stuff up along the way. Mrs. Incredible jumps in with her elasticity to get to hard to reach areas and stretch out to punch someone. Dash and Violet have the least amount of playtime thankfully because their stages tend to be the most frustrating.
As Dash you run as fast as your little legs will take you, which is between 90-160 mph. Oddly though, he controls like a 90 year old man in a wheeled chair meaning you'll be running into things and having to restart constantly while you are trying to beat the clock. Violet has the cool power of invisibility so her stage boils down to a stealth mission. Unfortunately though you can't use her power for too long and she can't fight, so if you get caught you're dead.
As a whole this game is platformer 90% of the way, with an uncanny amount of switches to press, rotate or destroy. Your leaping ability will be put to the test as you vault over pits of instant death or that send you back to where you started. It's an old design for games of this genre and sure it works, but has been regurgitated so many times it's impossible to count.
If an endless supply of switches isn't enough to keep you bored stiff then you're in luck because the AI is absolutely terrible. Every enemy will stand and shoot at you if they have a gun or just run straight up to if they have a melee weapon. Other forms of enemies are technological toys like turrets and robotics that just home in on your position and attack.
Another example of poor AI is evident when you engage a boss. While there are not many, the ones that are here follow a specific pattern of attacks. These fights last a surprisingly long time too, but that's mostly because you have to sit and dodge attacks waiting for them to make themselves vulnerable. Chances are good that you will have to die on a boss before you figure out exactly what you have to do, so don't give up no matter how frustrated you get!
The pacing for this game is erratic as well and it can go from easy to impossible in the blink of an eye. While health icons litter some areas when you actually need one you're out of luck. There are a lot of cheap deaths awaiting you and many challenging jumps to fail. I find remarkable that this game is targeted to kids with the amount of frustration it tosses at you.
Probably the single greatest issue with the gameplay though is the control. When Mr. Incredible punches it almost looks like he's a 300lb ice skater because he glides along wherever his fist goes. Mrs. Incredible relies on the lock on feature, which doesn't work half the time to grab ledges and hit enemies. As mentioned it's near impossible to control Dash and Violet's stages are freakishly annoying with the lack of a lengthy invisibility power.
One other thing that impacts the control and gameplay is a screwy camera. You will have to constantly adjust the camera unless you want to fight guys who are off screen all the time. This results in some missed jumps, cheap shots and huge amounts of frustration during boss battles. You can center the camera behind your character by pressing the L2 button but it gets old to have to keep doing that.
Graphics:
The Incredibles uses select scenes from the movie to set up particular points in the game for action. You will be dropped into the beginning of a level from the point that the clip ended off at. The transition between film and stage is handled very well and has a nice sense of continuity. Don't be looking for a DVD quality transfer though, the video here is grainy and has noticeable lag.
The in game graphics though are very sharp and easy on the eyes. The character models look similar as can be to the movie and they animate remarkably, though close up shots need more detail to round them out. You can tell that the bulk of time spent in the graphics department was on designing the main characters because every peon you face comes from a cookie cutter.
It's the faceless enemies that all lack individual personality that ultimate lead to most of the repetitiveness. At the beginning you are fighting Bomb Voyage's French henchmen and after that it will be the guards on Nomanisan Island. Sure there are different varieties between them like some have guns, some have grenade launchers and some have batons, but in the end they are all the same.
While I would have liked more variety in the environments the graphics here are very surprising. Soft lighting gives everything a nice glow and there is a lot of minor detail from a distant cityscape to colorful floral. I wish you could interact more with the surroundings but as it remains you can only destroy crates and such.
Audio:
The beautifully composed musical score from the movie is here completely intact. The tunes keep in track with you as you progress through stages and entertain your ears throughout. Also making their way into the game are voice clips from the film, which are used to an irritating degree. While there isn't much original content for in game sound at least Samuel Jackson provides some voice work for the tutorial and menus.
Conclusion:
With a completion time of under 10 hours, unlockable videos and concept art, plus a battle mode to tinker with there is a lot to do. There are even some cheat codes that alter various visual aspects and some gameplay mechanics as well. Sadly though with how repetitive and boring this game is I can't imagine going through and unlock everything.
If this game didn't have monotonous clunky gameplay, repetitive sound bytes, cookie cutter enemies and frustrating pacing then it would actually be great. Unfortunately that's not the case and all that is negative about this game is transparent after the first couple of stages. Fans of the movie will want to give this one a rent but if you haven't seen the film yet you will have more enjoyment with the theatrical presentation of the story than what is served up here.
Does the game match the quality that the picture exudes or does it wind up less than incredible? After watching the movie I was looking forward to playing the game even though I usually stay away from movie to game ports because they tend to disappoint. While The Incredibles is not a horrible game by any standards it's just not as enjoyable as its namesake.
In the event that you have not seen the movie, here's a briefing about what's going on because while the game has cut scenes from the movie it leaves out 80% of the story. In a time where superheroes saved the world and stopped crime at the drop of a hat, Mr. Incredible was king. He was revered by his hero peers and adoring public alike, but unfortunately times change. On one fateful evening he stops a man from jumping to his death and in turn gets sued because the guy didn't want to be saved.
This starts a chain of events that leads to the end of the super powers and normal humanity takes control of its own destiny. While the heroes slipped out of sight they didn't disappear all together and they are living among you and I going through day-to-day life. The same mundane fate has befallen Mr. Incredible and he has slipped into depression for the lost glory days and being stuck in a dead end job.
He does have a family that he loves, but much like a middle aged man buying a Porsche he yearns for more and has something to prove. Through a series of events he is catapulted into action and soon is whole family follows suit. Their goal is to stop a maniacal inventor bent on killing all superheroes and only the Incredibles have the power to stop him. That's where you come in, taking control of the super family in a quest to save the world from destruction yet again.
Gameplay:
At its heart The Incredibles is a platformer, and an extremely boring one at that. You can see everything each character has to offer within the first few minutes of their specific stage. Once you realize that, you will become increasingly bored and agitated as the level and game progress making you constantly repeat your actions over and over again.
Each of the super family finds themselves in a stage that is designed around them with their powers in mind. You'll be spending the bulk of your gaming as Mr. Incredible pounding skulls and blowing stuff up along the way. Mrs. Incredible jumps in with her elasticity to get to hard to reach areas and stretch out to punch someone. Dash and Violet have the least amount of playtime thankfully because their stages tend to be the most frustrating.
As Dash you run as fast as your little legs will take you, which is between 90-160 mph. Oddly though, he controls like a 90 year old man in a wheeled chair meaning you'll be running into things and having to restart constantly while you are trying to beat the clock. Violet has the cool power of invisibility so her stage boils down to a stealth mission. Unfortunately though you can't use her power for too long and she can't fight, so if you get caught you're dead.
As a whole this game is platformer 90% of the way, with an uncanny amount of switches to press, rotate or destroy. Your leaping ability will be put to the test as you vault over pits of instant death or that send you back to where you started. It's an old design for games of this genre and sure it works, but has been regurgitated so many times it's impossible to count.
If an endless supply of switches isn't enough to keep you bored stiff then you're in luck because the AI is absolutely terrible. Every enemy will stand and shoot at you if they have a gun or just run straight up to if they have a melee weapon. Other forms of enemies are technological toys like turrets and robotics that just home in on your position and attack.
Another example of poor AI is evident when you engage a boss. While there are not many, the ones that are here follow a specific pattern of attacks. These fights last a surprisingly long time too, but that's mostly because you have to sit and dodge attacks waiting for them to make themselves vulnerable. Chances are good that you will have to die on a boss before you figure out exactly what you have to do, so don't give up no matter how frustrated you get!
The pacing for this game is erratic as well and it can go from easy to impossible in the blink of an eye. While health icons litter some areas when you actually need one you're out of luck. There are a lot of cheap deaths awaiting you and many challenging jumps to fail. I find remarkable that this game is targeted to kids with the amount of frustration it tosses at you.
Probably the single greatest issue with the gameplay though is the control. When Mr. Incredible punches it almost looks like he's a 300lb ice skater because he glides along wherever his fist goes. Mrs. Incredible relies on the lock on feature, which doesn't work half the time to grab ledges and hit enemies. As mentioned it's near impossible to control Dash and Violet's stages are freakishly annoying with the lack of a lengthy invisibility power.
One other thing that impacts the control and gameplay is a screwy camera. You will have to constantly adjust the camera unless you want to fight guys who are off screen all the time. This results in some missed jumps, cheap shots and huge amounts of frustration during boss battles. You can center the camera behind your character by pressing the L2 button but it gets old to have to keep doing that.
Graphics:
The Incredibles uses select scenes from the movie to set up particular points in the game for action. You will be dropped into the beginning of a level from the point that the clip ended off at. The transition between film and stage is handled very well and has a nice sense of continuity. Don't be looking for a DVD quality transfer though, the video here is grainy and has noticeable lag.
The in game graphics though are very sharp and easy on the eyes. The character models look similar as can be to the movie and they animate remarkably, though close up shots need more detail to round them out. You can tell that the bulk of time spent in the graphics department was on designing the main characters because every peon you face comes from a cookie cutter.
It's the faceless enemies that all lack individual personality that ultimate lead to most of the repetitiveness. At the beginning you are fighting Bomb Voyage's French henchmen and after that it will be the guards on Nomanisan Island. Sure there are different varieties between them like some have guns, some have grenade launchers and some have batons, but in the end they are all the same.
While I would have liked more variety in the environments the graphics here are very surprising. Soft lighting gives everything a nice glow and there is a lot of minor detail from a distant cityscape to colorful floral. I wish you could interact more with the surroundings but as it remains you can only destroy crates and such.
Audio:
The beautifully composed musical score from the movie is here completely intact. The tunes keep in track with you as you progress through stages and entertain your ears throughout. Also making their way into the game are voice clips from the film, which are used to an irritating degree. While there isn't much original content for in game sound at least Samuel Jackson provides some voice work for the tutorial and menus.
Conclusion:
With a completion time of under 10 hours, unlockable videos and concept art, plus a battle mode to tinker with there is a lot to do. There are even some cheat codes that alter various visual aspects and some gameplay mechanics as well. Sadly though with how repetitive and boring this game is I can't imagine going through and unlock everything.
If this game didn't have monotonous clunky gameplay, repetitive sound bytes, cookie cutter enemies and frustrating pacing then it would actually be great. Unfortunately that's not the case and all that is negative about this game is transparent after the first couple of stages. Fans of the movie will want to give this one a rent but if you haven't seen the film yet you will have more enjoyment with the theatrical presentation of the story than what is served up here.