Ratatouille
Posted July 18, 2007
Based on the recent Pixar release, the Xbox 360 version of Ratatouille is an action adventure platformer with Remy the mouse as the main character. Having seen the movie, it’s actually light on the spoilers and uses many alternate situations to parallel the same basic narrative. The presentation meanders from average to poor at times due to the limited character voices and poor animation during the various cut-scenes. It’s almost embarrassing to see a Pixar creation, known for their magnificent story telling, bastardized in this fashion. Then again, they didn’t seem to mind when the average 360 version of Cars was released. 
Gameplay:
The main single player story is broken into 5 levels: the farm, the streets of Paris, the sewer colony, the kitchen of Gusteau’s, and a fresh market. The opening farm level will introduce Remy to the types of obstacles that he will encounter in the future. Jumping mechanics and player interaction with the environment are covered in the first 10 minutes of the game. Each following level contains 5 main missions that Remy must accomplish to move on to the next section. There are also a variety of mini-games and time trials that Remy can use to gain food and charms.
Charms are shiny coins that Remy is required to collect to open up the available missions in the game. 100 charms are strewn about each level and require quite a bit of legwork to collect them all. Some are in hidden areas while other are in hard to reach corners of plain sight. After a level is unlocked with charms, Remy will be sent on missions requiring tightrope balancing, horrific jumping feats, and umbrella sailing. Remy much avoid problematic areas along the way such as mousetraps, gas bombs, rat pellet dispensers, crabs, cats, dogs, toxic spills, fire ants, and of course large amounts of water.
The mini-games are pretty darn varied. Remy will be squishing bugs, dodging falling cakes, leaping over bread, shooting fish, and helping Linguini cook. Each mini-game has three levels of difficulty and is found at different spots on the levels. For each successfully completed game, Remy will be awarded a piece of fresh food, which he can use to cook a meal. Oddly, the actual cooking is kept to a minimum and just used as a tease to keep making you play the games. The time trials are split into three types: stopping thieving ants, hitting springboard jumps, and chasing Gusteau around the kitchen. The first two are boring, but the last is a fantastic way to learn about the level layout. It’s a great idea to hit that first when entering a new level.
The main issue I have with the platforming aspect of Ratatouille is the object detection problem. At several points in the game, I cursed that little cartoon rat because Remy couldn’t latch onto the jump, which I made perfectly. The level designer didn’t spend enough time building levels that were kid friendly or even adult friendly for that matter. Jumping from the flagpole heads at the top of the City of Lights was some of the most irritating failure of game mechanics I’ve seen in a while. It’s sad to see the developer rush a game out with this type of serious problem just to make the release of the movie.
The achievements are broken up into the max of 50 achievements for a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Many of the points are awarded for simply finishing the single player missions while others are offered up after finding secret places on each level. Also, a couple of the big gamerscore earners are given for finishing all the story missions or finding all 525 charms. It’s a fairly creative lot of achievements that will keep you on your toes for most of the game.
Graphics:
Visually, the surrounding world of Paris is artistically solid, but very much on the lifeless side. All the static objects look fantastic and seem gargantuan in Remy’s tiny world. Also, the developer built each level large enough for the player to explore freely. The lighting effects are impressive, but the explosion & gas effects could use some work. The main characters look great, especially the individual hairs on the mice. The human models don’t fair as well though and seem quite ugly in comparison. There are a few nasty problems with object collision though. Quite often, I found a place where the developer got really sloppy and left a place to get stuck inside invisible walls. The framerate is rock solid and never effects gameplay with any slowdown problems.
Audio:
The voice work for Remy, Django, Emile, and Gusteau are top-notch. New material was recorded from Patton Oswalt which makes Remy’s quips throughout the game much more enjoyable. The music is also fantastic. While a bit on the repetitive side, the soothing violin / accordion tunes reinforce the locale of Paris. The sound effects are limited by the few actions available to the player, but do their job effectively.
Overall:
This is a title suffers from a level of frustration that children won’t want to handle. Many of the chase scenes and mini-games require the reflexes of a 7-year old DDR champ. I will say that collecting achievements in Ratatouille is very entertaining. Some of the secret achievements will keep you searching for hours. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to recommend this title for purchase. The entire single player campaign will only take about 6 to 7 hours to complete. It does make for a decent rental on a rainy day though.
Gameplay:
The main single player story is broken into 5 levels: the farm, the streets of Paris, the sewer colony, the kitchen of Gusteau’s, and a fresh market. The opening farm level will introduce Remy to the types of obstacles that he will encounter in the future. Jumping mechanics and player interaction with the environment are covered in the first 10 minutes of the game. Each following level contains 5 main missions that Remy must accomplish to move on to the next section. There are also a variety of mini-games and time trials that Remy can use to gain food and charms.
Charms are shiny coins that Remy is required to collect to open up the available missions in the game. 100 charms are strewn about each level and require quite a bit of legwork to collect them all. Some are in hidden areas while other are in hard to reach corners of plain sight. After a level is unlocked with charms, Remy will be sent on missions requiring tightrope balancing, horrific jumping feats, and umbrella sailing. Remy much avoid problematic areas along the way such as mousetraps, gas bombs, rat pellet dispensers, crabs, cats, dogs, toxic spills, fire ants, and of course large amounts of water.
The mini-games are pretty darn varied. Remy will be squishing bugs, dodging falling cakes, leaping over bread, shooting fish, and helping Linguini cook. Each mini-game has three levels of difficulty and is found at different spots on the levels. For each successfully completed game, Remy will be awarded a piece of fresh food, which he can use to cook a meal. Oddly, the actual cooking is kept to a minimum and just used as a tease to keep making you play the games. The time trials are split into three types: stopping thieving ants, hitting springboard jumps, and chasing Gusteau around the kitchen. The first two are boring, but the last is a fantastic way to learn about the level layout. It’s a great idea to hit that first when entering a new level.
The main issue I have with the platforming aspect of Ratatouille is the object detection problem. At several points in the game, I cursed that little cartoon rat because Remy couldn’t latch onto the jump, which I made perfectly. The level designer didn’t spend enough time building levels that were kid friendly or even adult friendly for that matter. Jumping from the flagpole heads at the top of the City of Lights was some of the most irritating failure of game mechanics I’ve seen in a while. It’s sad to see the developer rush a game out with this type of serious problem just to make the release of the movie.
The achievements are broken up into the max of 50 achievements for a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Many of the points are awarded for simply finishing the single player missions while others are offered up after finding secret places on each level. Also, a couple of the big gamerscore earners are given for finishing all the story missions or finding all 525 charms. It’s a fairly creative lot of achievements that will keep you on your toes for most of the game.
Graphics:
Visually, the surrounding world of Paris is artistically solid, but very much on the lifeless side. All the static objects look fantastic and seem gargantuan in Remy’s tiny world. Also, the developer built each level large enough for the player to explore freely. The lighting effects are impressive, but the explosion & gas effects could use some work. The main characters look great, especially the individual hairs on the mice. The human models don’t fair as well though and seem quite ugly in comparison. There are a few nasty problems with object collision though. Quite often, I found a place where the developer got really sloppy and left a place to get stuck inside invisible walls. The framerate is rock solid and never effects gameplay with any slowdown problems.
Audio:
The voice work for Remy, Django, Emile, and Gusteau are top-notch. New material was recorded from Patton Oswalt which makes Remy’s quips throughout the game much more enjoyable. The music is also fantastic. While a bit on the repetitive side, the soothing violin / accordion tunes reinforce the locale of Paris. The sound effects are limited by the few actions available to the player, but do their job effectively.
Overall:
This is a title suffers from a level of frustration that children won’t want to handle. Many of the chase scenes and mini-games require the reflexes of a 7-year old DDR champ. I will say that collecting achievements in Ratatouille is very entertaining. Some of the secret achievements will keep you searching for hours. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to recommend this title for purchase. The entire single player campaign will only take about 6 to 7 hours to complete. It does make for a decent rental on a rainy day though.