Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts! (DS) Review
When a children’s movie comes out, its usually customary for a Game to come out on pretty much every console. Over the Hedge was no different. Usually games based on movies are a bit crap. Over the Hedge for the DS, originally developed by Vicarious Visions worked rather well, had the charm of the movie and was actually pretty decent. Hammy Goes Nuts arrives on the launch of the DVD release of Over the Hedge and while it doesn’t contain all the charm of the first, it is again a half decent game – the only problem is the point of the game; the story is that Hammys cable gets knocked out and with the help of a new character named Boris, they are going to make there own television, with pranks played on the exterminator from the movie.
Rather then a platform title, Hammy Goes Nuts is a top down based “strategy” game, controlling Hammy RJ, Verne and Stella to work together to first break into the place to set up the trap, but then later on escape with as much booty as possible.
Players use the touch screen to control the characters and touch on object to pick them up. The games presentation lacks the polish its predecessor had, while it is not bad, it isnt as good as it could be – lots of the text looks small and sometimes jaggy and hard to read, the menu is laid out over a map of the places you have to raid, with the characters looking above. It gives it a good feeling like your one of the characters looking down huddled over a map too. The actual gameplay of the game takes place on the bottom screen with a overview map on the top screen, along with a level specific character who is asleep during gameplay. Along with using tools to unlock the door, you can collect sheep which the more you have, the more time you have to steal goods after you have set the trap. Now Ive mentioned the trap a couple of times so Ill explain that. Every level has a trap and once you break into the place, you set the trap and then escape. You then get to set off the trap to catch the exterminator, where one trap is blasting music and another getting him caught in a Venus fly trap. This being said, the following events happen on every level, while the trap is different and the tasks to set that trap are as well, you might find it repetitive as that is the basic crux of the game.
The characters are also animated great, although when you tap to pick up an item and then tap to use it on something else, the activating of the object doesn’t always work – the whole item isn’t tap-able, only one part of it. Also, sometimes a character will run on the spot instead of picking up an item, in the laser parts of game where timing is crucial, you can come undone. The sound effects and music of the game are good, while it doesn’t go anything great, it serves it purpose. The game also has a fair few cut scenes, which look great, but sometimes the videos can be out of sync, which is a small problem. Also when there is a lot of action on-screen, the game looks like it is either stuttering or the camera became shaky, either way, it looks a bit unnerving and breaks the flow of the game. Over the Hedge Hammy goes nuts is in no way a perfect game, and while its not suited for a 20 year old like myself, its target market will lap it up and have a great time with what is a half-decent, movie-based spin-off game. Great to see Activision and Amaze keep the quality up there.
