Pitfall - The Lost Expedition
Posted April 13, 2004
Does the name Pengo mean anything to you? How about Moon Patrol ? Not ringing any bells eh? Well, whether it did or not, I can almost guarantee you that the name "Pitfall" sends your ears ringing. Pitfall was one of the most popular and well-loved releases from the Atari heyday, and now the PS2 has reissued (and completely revamped) the themes from the old title, and put it into modern day graphical world with the release of "Pitfall: The Lost Expedition."
Activision (perhaps best known for the success its had with the Tony Hawk series) has released a "fun for all ages" remake of a classic here, and there is very little variation on the theme. This game is so much like the original in fact, that you actually are given the opportunity to play the original in the middle of this new game, in case you'd forgotten how bad graphics looked twenty years ago.
The story here is simple. You play Pitfall Harry, who is an explorer by trade (I've always wondered how people live financially in situations like that, but that's a rant for another time and place), and a megalomaniacal, narcissistic ladies' man by nature. You start out in a plane cruising over the jungles of Peru on an archaeological quest headed by Dr. Bernard Bittenbinder. Along for the ride is the dashing Nicole who you immediately feel should be yours and is therefore the instant object of affection. Well, wouldn't you know it, your plane goes down, and you spend the rest of the game helping save the survivors and all the while saving local natives from the evils of the ancient Spanish curse...etc. etc. It's not that I find the story uninteresting (it was the glue that held the game together) but we've all heard it before. In any event, throughout the course of the game you run into the various members of your original party, including Nicole, along with the natives of the land, members of a rival exploration team (headed by the evil St. Claire), local magical shamans, a talking tiger, a 500-year old princess, and a partridge in a pear tree...well, maybe not that last one.
I may be sounding negative at this point, but I'm really not. The game has a very congruent and relevant storyline that truly is important, but I just think the younger audience might appreciate it more, whereas I am a disgruntled 20-something. As I'll describe later though, I think those born after 1990 would really be rapt by this game, for the color scheme and impressive background artwork if not the story itself. Anyway, onto the game play.
Gameplay:
In most reviews I detail what the buttons do and how they affect the game play and whether the analog stick is too sensitive etc...but the controls are quite simple for this game, so I won't waste any time with that.
It's quite simple really. You need to know how to do three things in this game to succeed.
1. You need to know how to perform the actions within the game (swinging on vines, speed running, attacking, etc.).
2. You must know how/when/where to use the items stowed in "Harry's Gear".
3. You most definitely must know your way around the maps. I'll get to this later, but your ability to find your way through all the various levels is crucial.
Fighting enemies and maneuvering your way through all the challenges you face in the game will come naturally to most gamers with even a little bit of experience.
Right from the get-go you realize that you need a few basic skills to even make it through the opening part of the jungle. You need to know how to swing on a vine, and how to kick foes when they get in your way. Have you mastered that yet?...good, now you have the skills required for the rest of the game. I'm only slightly exaggerating. The actual game play is very simple. The majority of the level of difficulty in this game comes in knowing what to utilize and when, and where to be to utilize it. There are the occasional tricky situations regarding vine swinging and jumping from one precarious landing to another, but nothing too daunting. You will pick up Boots at one point that allow you to speed walk over fire, and you also get a pick axe to climb up ice walls...but these are both easily mastered.
Now onto those items I was talking about that can be found in "Harry's Gear." The Sling is an invaluable item as it is used not only as a weapon, but also as a means of knocking down items from a distance to clear pathways and special items. You can later upgrade to a Super Sling, but this weapon isn't really necessary. Later on in the game you will acquire TNT. This is used simply to blow your way into areas previously blocked by boulders. When you finally get this, you will be very relieved. Crucial to success in the game is the Canteen. The water from your canteen is used to refill your life. Canteen fountains are found all over the game, so it's important to utilize them as a valuable resource...trust me on this one. Like so many adventure games, the Torch is an item that you can't do without. There's a whole section of the game (Lost Caverns) where you MUST have the Torch, so don't leave home without it. Once you befriend the natives, you get the Shield. The Shield isn't the most necessary item, but it's very useful in a number of situations. Get it and then go shake the hand of a native...it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I already mentioned the pickaxe, but here I am mentioning it again. It's a very useful tool once you enter the "Snowy Mountains" section of the game. It's easy to learn how to use it, but in case you forget, the game tells you how when you acquire it, so pay attention! The Raft is an item that confused me. So, you need a raft to cross deep water, that's fine. However, you also utilize it in freezing water, and water infested by electric eels...go figure. Finally, the gas mask is used to pass by areas where poisonous plants are spewing out their poison. The gas mask is useful in only a few spots, but like so many other things in the game, you really must have it to advance anywhere.
Before I move on to the third point of success for this game, let me briefly mention what options are made available to you at the Menu Screen. The Menu Screen (or "Harry's Heroic Handbook) allows you to see where you're going and have been (Map), how to use the weapons and attack moves you've acquired (Notes), tips on where to go next (Journal), a look inside your pack to see what your toting around the jungle (Inventory), a step by step guide on just how to approach your various enemies (Bestiary), and tips to take you to the end in a timely fashion (Hints). From this main screen you can also participate in the Native Games (an area you'll figure out once you play), see what the Shaman has for sale at the "Shaman Shop", or how to continue on Harry's heroic ways with a peek at the "Heroic Handbook").
It's also worth mentioning that throughout the game you will come across idols that can be picked up. These shiny Oscar-looking statuettes represent currency in this game. "Why do you need currency in the middle of the jungle?" you're asking. Well, because in various (usually well-hidden) spots throughout the game you can stumble across Shaman's. The Shaman will have everything for sale from new weapons, to new attack moves, and even extra health and canteen capacity. I found the idol amount to far outweigh what the Shaman has to offer, but for those completists out there, there is a guide telling you how many idols are on each board...so if you really want to, you can take the time to find them all.
The last of the three necessary skills to succeed focuses on your ability to follow along with the maps in this game. Here is where one of my biggest issues with this game arose. The maps are broken out into 5 major sections, with each section having various destinations that you meandered your way through as a means of progressing through the game. The problem here is that once you acquired an item (say a Raft for example) you would often have to go back through a long list of stages to get to where the Raft could be used. There are no "warp zones" or shortcuts to return to where you wanted to go. You had to literally backtrack all the way back to a far away stage. It was definitely a time consuming portion of the game that I feel was added on just to lengthen the game and really added no value. I would have rather seen 10 stages that were completed on a more linear level than 5 stages that often had you running around in circles.
So that's really all for game play. The game itself ran fairly smoothly. There was an annoying "load" screen between each stage, but I don't' expect many games to run through an entire game setting without having break to reload the stage setting. This did however lead to a game hiccup in the form of a lock-up during a stage transition. Nothing makes me put down a game for a solid week more than losing hours of game progress because I didn't save after every accomplishment.
Those minor glitches aside, I found the game play to be quite favorable. Again, any game with a fairly low level of difficulty is almost immediately a thumbs-up in my book in terms of game play. I never really experienced any slowdown due to motion overload on the screen, or any other blips on the radar as far as running soundness is concerned. And for a game with such a developed and "busy" backdrop, this ran quite well...speaking of the backdrop...
Graphics:
I may be going a bit overboard here, but I truly believe that the graphics are what really set this game apart from other games of this type. Not too challenging, nothing too memorable about the characters, yet the color palette displayed is quite magnificent. Clearly aimed at catching the eye of the younger gamer, this game has a wide array of color and all are very bright and are set in such a way to really accentuate each other. The cinematics are a prime time for these color differences to shine as you are shown the whole landscapes (from varying views) that Harry has to maneuver through. Of course the game takes place in a jungle, which is one of the more scenic areas in terms of real life landscapes anyway...so I guess one should expect to see loads of colors and artistic renderings.
It is, of course, not all good when it comes to graphics. There are moments when a very pixilated image will appear. There are also some lag issues at spots that I blame on the graphic complexity. Not to mention the fact that the ability to rotate the viewing angle 360 degrees lends itself to some phantom walls and enemies (a rather common error with this type of viewing option).
For the most part though, as mentioned, the graphics are quite strong. The details on characters during cinematic close-ups are somewhat blocky, but certainly not a negative towards the game. Activision knows what they are doing when it comes to the visual layout, and it shows in this title.
Audio:
The overall audio effort for this title is pretty solid. The "soundtrack" in this game did what it was supposed to...it stayed out of the way. Honestly, I couldn't even hum for you a tune from the game. Honestly, I'm not even sure there were tunes in this game. There must have been I guess, but they clearly stayed in the background, which I appreciate. The solid part was the sound effects, which were very crisp and actually rather necessary. Whether it was Harry recharging in the magical energy pools, the scuffle of his feet across hot coals, the splashing of crocodiles in the rivers, or the ranting and raving of the local evil monkeys...these sound effects were crisp and truly added to the overall feel of game play. As an addendum to those effects mentioned (and I could have listed dozens of others) I found the flipping of pages in Harry's handbook and the scribbling with a pencil especially impressive effects. Whenever the handbook was pulled up it was almost like a menu screen, but instead of the standard whizzes and clicks of menu screens, it stayed true to its theme and gave realistic sounds.
Also worth noting is the spoken dialogue within the cinematics of the game. Witty yet predictable, the writing for this game added to the overall storyline and was read extremely well by a variety of voice actors. As I may have already mentioned, it was the storyline that really held this game together, and motivated you to keep chugging along when the game became slow or difficult. This simple fact makes the spoken lines of dialogue all the more important.
I played this game both with and without the surround sound speakers behind my head. Admittedly, the first time I played it with the back channels behind me, I had to pause a few times to make sure no one was walking in the room without my knowledge. I'm not saying these effects truly put me "in the game," but they added to the overall experience for sure.
Conclusion:
In the annals of gaming history, there are few characters that stand out as memorable. Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Sonic...they're all up there, and Pitfall Harry...well, he's not. This fact however, should not deter you from giving his latest incarnation a try.
I will admit that this game is probably aimed at a target audience that is at least a few years younger than me. Even though it took me over 10 hours to complete, this game really isn't all that difficult. The aforementioned backtracking aside (which got on my last nerve), the storyline allows for a rather "point A to point B" type game play.
If you think you're too cool to play a more kid oriented game, then rent this one, you can beat it in a weekend. However, if you like aesthetically pleasing games that only require a 6th grade gaming level of expertise, this is a good choice for you. And if you're somewhere in the middle, then go ahead and get this one anyway...hell, it's fun.
Activision (perhaps best known for the success its had with the Tony Hawk series) has released a "fun for all ages" remake of a classic here, and there is very little variation on the theme. This game is so much like the original in fact, that you actually are given the opportunity to play the original in the middle of this new game, in case you'd forgotten how bad graphics looked twenty years ago.
The story here is simple. You play Pitfall Harry, who is an explorer by trade (I've always wondered how people live financially in situations like that, but that's a rant for another time and place), and a megalomaniacal, narcissistic ladies' man by nature. You start out in a plane cruising over the jungles of Peru on an archaeological quest headed by Dr. Bernard Bittenbinder. Along for the ride is the dashing Nicole who you immediately feel should be yours and is therefore the instant object of affection. Well, wouldn't you know it, your plane goes down, and you spend the rest of the game helping save the survivors and all the while saving local natives from the evils of the ancient Spanish curse...etc. etc. It's not that I find the story uninteresting (it was the glue that held the game together) but we've all heard it before. In any event, throughout the course of the game you run into the various members of your original party, including Nicole, along with the natives of the land, members of a rival exploration team (headed by the evil St. Claire), local magical shamans, a talking tiger, a 500-year old princess, and a partridge in a pear tree...well, maybe not that last one.
I may be sounding negative at this point, but I'm really not. The game has a very congruent and relevant storyline that truly is important, but I just think the younger audience might appreciate it more, whereas I am a disgruntled 20-something. As I'll describe later though, I think those born after 1990 would really be rapt by this game, for the color scheme and impressive background artwork if not the story itself. Anyway, onto the game play.
Gameplay:
In most reviews I detail what the buttons do and how they affect the game play and whether the analog stick is too sensitive etc...but the controls are quite simple for this game, so I won't waste any time with that.
It's quite simple really. You need to know how to do three things in this game to succeed.
1. You need to know how to perform the actions within the game (swinging on vines, speed running, attacking, etc.).
2. You must know how/when/where to use the items stowed in "Harry's Gear".
3. You most definitely must know your way around the maps. I'll get to this later, but your ability to find your way through all the various levels is crucial.
Fighting enemies and maneuvering your way through all the challenges you face in the game will come naturally to most gamers with even a little bit of experience.
Right from the get-go you realize that you need a few basic skills to even make it through the opening part of the jungle. You need to know how to swing on a vine, and how to kick foes when they get in your way. Have you mastered that yet?...good, now you have the skills required for the rest of the game. I'm only slightly exaggerating. The actual game play is very simple. The majority of the level of difficulty in this game comes in knowing what to utilize and when, and where to be to utilize it. There are the occasional tricky situations regarding vine swinging and jumping from one precarious landing to another, but nothing too daunting. You will pick up Boots at one point that allow you to speed walk over fire, and you also get a pick axe to climb up ice walls...but these are both easily mastered.
Now onto those items I was talking about that can be found in "Harry's Gear." The Sling is an invaluable item as it is used not only as a weapon, but also as a means of knocking down items from a distance to clear pathways and special items. You can later upgrade to a Super Sling, but this weapon isn't really necessary. Later on in the game you will acquire TNT. This is used simply to blow your way into areas previously blocked by boulders. When you finally get this, you will be very relieved. Crucial to success in the game is the Canteen. The water from your canteen is used to refill your life. Canteen fountains are found all over the game, so it's important to utilize them as a valuable resource...trust me on this one. Like so many adventure games, the Torch is an item that you can't do without. There's a whole section of the game (Lost Caverns) where you MUST have the Torch, so don't leave home without it. Once you befriend the natives, you get the Shield. The Shield isn't the most necessary item, but it's very useful in a number of situations. Get it and then go shake the hand of a native...it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I already mentioned the pickaxe, but here I am mentioning it again. It's a very useful tool once you enter the "Snowy Mountains" section of the game. It's easy to learn how to use it, but in case you forget, the game tells you how when you acquire it, so pay attention! The Raft is an item that confused me. So, you need a raft to cross deep water, that's fine. However, you also utilize it in freezing water, and water infested by electric eels...go figure. Finally, the gas mask is used to pass by areas where poisonous plants are spewing out their poison. The gas mask is useful in only a few spots, but like so many other things in the game, you really must have it to advance anywhere.
Before I move on to the third point of success for this game, let me briefly mention what options are made available to you at the Menu Screen. The Menu Screen (or "Harry's Heroic Handbook) allows you to see where you're going and have been (Map), how to use the weapons and attack moves you've acquired (Notes), tips on where to go next (Journal), a look inside your pack to see what your toting around the jungle (Inventory), a step by step guide on just how to approach your various enemies (Bestiary), and tips to take you to the end in a timely fashion (Hints). From this main screen you can also participate in the Native Games (an area you'll figure out once you play), see what the Shaman has for sale at the "Shaman Shop", or how to continue on Harry's heroic ways with a peek at the "Heroic Handbook").
It's also worth mentioning that throughout the game you will come across idols that can be picked up. These shiny Oscar-looking statuettes represent currency in this game. "Why do you need currency in the middle of the jungle?" you're asking. Well, because in various (usually well-hidden) spots throughout the game you can stumble across Shaman's. The Shaman will have everything for sale from new weapons, to new attack moves, and even extra health and canteen capacity. I found the idol amount to far outweigh what the Shaman has to offer, but for those completists out there, there is a guide telling you how many idols are on each board...so if you really want to, you can take the time to find them all.
The last of the three necessary skills to succeed focuses on your ability to follow along with the maps in this game. Here is where one of my biggest issues with this game arose. The maps are broken out into 5 major sections, with each section having various destinations that you meandered your way through as a means of progressing through the game. The problem here is that once you acquired an item (say a Raft for example) you would often have to go back through a long list of stages to get to where the Raft could be used. There are no "warp zones" or shortcuts to return to where you wanted to go. You had to literally backtrack all the way back to a far away stage. It was definitely a time consuming portion of the game that I feel was added on just to lengthen the game and really added no value. I would have rather seen 10 stages that were completed on a more linear level than 5 stages that often had you running around in circles.
So that's really all for game play. The game itself ran fairly smoothly. There was an annoying "load" screen between each stage, but I don't' expect many games to run through an entire game setting without having break to reload the stage setting. This did however lead to a game hiccup in the form of a lock-up during a stage transition. Nothing makes me put down a game for a solid week more than losing hours of game progress because I didn't save after every accomplishment.
Those minor glitches aside, I found the game play to be quite favorable. Again, any game with a fairly low level of difficulty is almost immediately a thumbs-up in my book in terms of game play. I never really experienced any slowdown due to motion overload on the screen, or any other blips on the radar as far as running soundness is concerned. And for a game with such a developed and "busy" backdrop, this ran quite well...speaking of the backdrop...
Graphics:
I may be going a bit overboard here, but I truly believe that the graphics are what really set this game apart from other games of this type. Not too challenging, nothing too memorable about the characters, yet the color palette displayed is quite magnificent. Clearly aimed at catching the eye of the younger gamer, this game has a wide array of color and all are very bright and are set in such a way to really accentuate each other. The cinematics are a prime time for these color differences to shine as you are shown the whole landscapes (from varying views) that Harry has to maneuver through. Of course the game takes place in a jungle, which is one of the more scenic areas in terms of real life landscapes anyway...so I guess one should expect to see loads of colors and artistic renderings.
It is, of course, not all good when it comes to graphics. There are moments when a very pixilated image will appear. There are also some lag issues at spots that I blame on the graphic complexity. Not to mention the fact that the ability to rotate the viewing angle 360 degrees lends itself to some phantom walls and enemies (a rather common error with this type of viewing option).
For the most part though, as mentioned, the graphics are quite strong. The details on characters during cinematic close-ups are somewhat blocky, but certainly not a negative towards the game. Activision knows what they are doing when it comes to the visual layout, and it shows in this title.
Audio:
The overall audio effort for this title is pretty solid. The "soundtrack" in this game did what it was supposed to...it stayed out of the way. Honestly, I couldn't even hum for you a tune from the game. Honestly, I'm not even sure there were tunes in this game. There must have been I guess, but they clearly stayed in the background, which I appreciate. The solid part was the sound effects, which were very crisp and actually rather necessary. Whether it was Harry recharging in the magical energy pools, the scuffle of his feet across hot coals, the splashing of crocodiles in the rivers, or the ranting and raving of the local evil monkeys...these sound effects were crisp and truly added to the overall feel of game play. As an addendum to those effects mentioned (and I could have listed dozens of others) I found the flipping of pages in Harry's handbook and the scribbling with a pencil especially impressive effects. Whenever the handbook was pulled up it was almost like a menu screen, but instead of the standard whizzes and clicks of menu screens, it stayed true to its theme and gave realistic sounds.
Also worth noting is the spoken dialogue within the cinematics of the game. Witty yet predictable, the writing for this game added to the overall storyline and was read extremely well by a variety of voice actors. As I may have already mentioned, it was the storyline that really held this game together, and motivated you to keep chugging along when the game became slow or difficult. This simple fact makes the spoken lines of dialogue all the more important.
I played this game both with and without the surround sound speakers behind my head. Admittedly, the first time I played it with the back channels behind me, I had to pause a few times to make sure no one was walking in the room without my knowledge. I'm not saying these effects truly put me "in the game," but they added to the overall experience for sure.
Conclusion:
In the annals of gaming history, there are few characters that stand out as memorable. Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Sonic...they're all up there, and Pitfall Harry...well, he's not. This fact however, should not deter you from giving his latest incarnation a try.
I will admit that this game is probably aimed at a target audience that is at least a few years younger than me. Even though it took me over 10 hours to complete, this game really isn't all that difficult. The aforementioned backtracking aside (which got on my last nerve), the storyline allows for a rather "point A to point B" type game play.
If you think you're too cool to play a more kid oriented game, then rent this one, you can beat it in a weekend. However, if you like aesthetically pleasing games that only require a 6th grade gaming level of expertise, this is a good choice for you. And if you're somewhere in the middle, then go ahead and get this one anyway...hell, it's fun.