Space Chimps (Wii) Review
Space Chimps is another 3D animation spurted out by Hollywood in time for the holiday seasons around the world. To be honest, I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I will reserve my judgment on it for the time being. However, I have played the game and my experience was a mixed affair. On one hand, the game offers some decent platforming that breaks the trend of poor videogame-movie tie-ins. On the other hand, there is a number of problems with the game and a general lack of polish that still render it a pretty average piece of software. Read on to get the full verdict on Space Chimps.
Space Chimps tells the story of Ham and Luna, two chimps who are sent into space to save the inhabitants of a peaceful planet from the dictatorship of the evil Zartog. Along with Commander Titan, Ham and Luna embark on a journey to defeat Zartog and his minions whilst saving the inhabitants he is ruling. The plot for Space Chimps is by no means brilliant, but it does the job for a childrens movie and serves well for a video game adaption. The game plays as a platformer with a few flying/shooting levels thrown in for good measure. For the most part, you alternate play between Ham and Luna as they each explore different environments on the planet. Each character has slightly different abilities; with Ham having the ability to engage in hand to hand combat whilst Luna has a little creature attached to her arm that can be used as a whip of sorts and also as a gun to shoot enemies/objects. Apart from this, both characters play much the same as you run, jump, fight, and solve puzzles throughout the various levels in the game.
For the most part, the platforming elements in Space Chimps are done pretty well. The games design seems to have taken inspiration from a number of different games. This is particularly evident in some areas where you can run sideways along a wall in a similar vein to the modern Prince of Persia games. Of course, this is not a bad thing and in many ways is a positive thing as the game has some influences from a variety of platform games before it. Whilst the platforming is generally pretty solid, it does lack the professionalism and polish that more meticulous platform games have, as is found in the Mario platforming games. As an example, there were several occasions where my character walked off an area but still stood in thin air, or on the many occasions where the character was holding onto a ledge and for one reason or another fell off. By no means are these game-breaking occurrences, but they certainly reinforce the general lack of polish and effort that often goes into the movie tie-in games.
As mentioned, both Luna and Ham are capable of engaging in combat with enemies. Combat is a pretty dull affair for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the combat is very repetitive and involves nothing more than the continuous pressing of a button. Secondly, enemy AI is poor, as enemies will not attack you outside of a certain area. It is as if the enemies are told to protect certain areas. If you don’t walk into that area you will not be attacked, regardless of whether the enemy can see you. This means you can simply run from an enemy until you’re outside of this “area” making bypassing combat altogether possible. The puzzles in the game are solid; having a mix of both simple and slightly more complex puzzles. The majority of puzzle solving revolves around using heads from Zortag statues which act as keys to getting into new areas. For the games intended audience, which is clearly young children, the puzzles are well designed in that they are not too challenging. For more experience gamers, they will be pretty simple.
Towards the later stages of the game, you will get to play the flying/shooting levels which are pretty boring, though they do break up the gameplay a bit. One level has you control a flying stingray through a cavern. The camera angles are automatic and become a bit of a pain here, though there are ample save points spread throughout the level making it a relatively easy experience regardless of how many times you might lose a life as a result of hitting obstacles or being attacked by enemies.
Graphically, Space Chimps is leaps and bounds behind in terms of what is expected of todays technology. Whilst it is common knowledge that the Wii is a bit behind its competitors in terms of visual capabilities, it is also well known that the Wii is capable of much more. Space Chimps has lacklustre textures and character models that look like they were ripped from a PS2 game. Animations are passable, if a little jerky and prehistoric at times. The cut-scenes are well done, though more effort into the in-game visuals would have been welcomed. The soundtrack for Space Chimps is OK, with a decent variety of tracks provided for your aural pleasure. The problem is that most tracks are only a couple of minutes long, and just continue on loop throughout the level. Making this more of a negative is the fact that there is a clear pause when the track loops. A further problem is the constant repetition of the two key characters. They are both cursed with a limited vocabulary and continually spit out the same few sentences.
Space Chimps is by no means a poor game, though a general lack of polish and a series of flaws make it no more than a slightly above average game. At around 8 hours long, there isn’t a great deal to come back to either. You can collect a hidden banana in each level that unlocks new costumes, but this is hardly the incentive required to plow though the game again. Young children will certainly get something out of Space Chimps as it provides a good challenge for younger, more inexperienced gamers. Seasoned gamers who have conquered the likes of Super Mario and Banjo-Kazooie best look elsewhere, as Space Chimps fails to reach the bar that many platformers before it have set at such a high standard.
