Where the Wild Things Are: The Videogame

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Usually I never go out of my way to buy role playing video games, I like simple games that keep me entertained. Usually the rock band and guitar hero games and gta iv do that perfectly for me but I decided to take a chance on this. I was mainly attracted to the cover and how it reminded me of the book so I went with it. Next thing you know I'm almost on Chapter 2! The game has a bunch of mini movies in it which are a nice addition since the gameplay seems to get repetitive following around a wild thing for awhile but it goes by pretty fast. I would recommend this for a family. Definitely not for any hardcore gamers. It reminds me a little bit of Batman Arkaham Asylum but way more kid friendly and easier.

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I will admit that I liked the movie and am on a quest to get related items before they are discontinued. If this was not a "Where the Wild Things Are" item, I would have passed over this.

The game is simple. Playing as Max, you'll navigate the island on a set path by running, jumping, and climbing, squish bugs with your scepter, collect items for the Wild Things, and unlocking secret places in the Village. A player can also achieve trophies; I am sure there are Xbox360 Achievements to be earned as well. The game does not follow the movie; apparently, the island is being destroyed. I have not progressed too far into the game to know much else.

All in all, this game is very simplistic. It reminded me of Playstation 1 games like "Klonoa" or "Spyro", to name a few. The controls are not too difficult to learn. The left analouge stick controls Max while the right controls the camera. The X,Square, Triangle, and Circle are all actions like jump, swing scepter, hug Wild Thing (for health), slide, or interact. A single shoulder button is used to make Max dance.

The camera is a bit dodgy, though. While you can make it rotate around Max, it doesnt always help. Itll get stuck if an obstacle is blocking its path. Sometimes the camera will be off center which makes you control Max right off a fallen tree or miss a jump. All in all, this game is easy and enjoyable.

The instruction booklet is laid out well and easy to follow.

The sounds of the island are good and the voices are similar to that of the movie.

The graphics of the game are good for a unpublicized game. Carol's fur seems to look a bit funny.

A bonus for this game is that a coupon worth $7.50 is included. This coupon is for a free ticket to see "Where the Wild Things Are" at a participating theater. The game came out before the movie. The coupon expires December 1, 2009.

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Pros-

Spyro like game play

Like the movie and book

Easy trophies

Fun

Cons-

Constant button mashing and blocking

1 basic attack

Too repetitive

Kid game? on hard it gave me a constant challenge

Your hands will hurt and your head will hurt, but is it worth a rent, yes. 1 play though and its enough for me.

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You know what's funny? The game version of Where the Wild Things Are is better than the movie. It actually has a plot, the characters are developed a little instead of just throwing fits now and then, and it's interesting. I'm wondering if maybe the scripts for this and the movie got mixed up. But this is a pretty good game, and I was surprised. I honestly only bought this because I was looking for an easy trophy game, and something that my daughter could play too. This is your standard run around and collect everything kind of game, and you can beat it in a weekend.

The story's pretty interestingyou start off as Max right as he arrives on the island, and encounters the Wild Things. Rather than making him king right away, he has to earn the respect of a couple of them, and show that he's brave and strong enough to lead them. Some of the Wild Things don't like Max, and have their doubts about having him as their king, and actually try to hurt him pretty bad in a few levels. As you progress, you find out that the island's in big trouble, and there's a weird kind of monster made up of black slime that can drag you into nothingness. Pretty creepy eh?

You play as Max the whole time, running and jumping your way through the levels that mainly consist of forest environments. You attack with the scepter, and can do standard, charged and jumping attacks with itnothing fancy. Enemies are limited to big bugs and the black slime creatures, so don't expect much variety here either. But the level design is where the game shines, and I have to say that I was impressed with how they set up some of these stages, and how beautiful some of them were, especially the later stages. There's not much challenge in them, and most of the time you'll end up dying because of missed jumps instead of them being too hard, but a lot of that problem has to do with the camera. Sometimes you can rotate it 360 degrees with the right analog stick, but most of the time, moving it around will just pan the camera left and right a little. There are two other kinds of levels that you only get to play in 2 times eachriding on top of Carol's head and sailing levels in your boat. When you ride Carol, you have to jump over/slide under logs in your way, jump over pits and smash through bushes to reach your destination. They're kind of cool, but I would've liked better controls here, and maybe a way of slowing him down in order to make turns easier. The boat levels simply have you move Max's boat around obstacles in the water, and dodging whirlpools too.

There are a few nice little touches involving the Wild Things. You can throw dirt at them to start dirt fights just like in the movie, get healed by them with a loving hug, and dance and howl with them too. But if you choose to attack them, they'll eat you when you get down to your last heart. It's a bit unsettling to see Max get engulfed, but I did laugh seeing Alexander headbutt him instead.

Visually, this game could've been done on the GameCube. There are some long loading times in-between areas, and the character models are very basic. It's actually a bit shameful that this was put on the ps3 because of how simple everything is, but you can't expect every game to look like Uncharted 2. The graphics do their job well for the kind of game this is (rushed movie tie-in). The voice actors for the Wild Things sound very similar to those in the movie, and Max really is Max Records, despite the lack of dialogue. But it's the soundtrack that really impressed me. When you start out on the beach, the music is very depressing, yet has a sense of wonder to it. A lot of the tracks for the stages are like thisvery down, and they set the mood for what happens with the story. It's nothing I'd buy if the soundtrack were available, but it's worth noting.

All in all, Where the Wild Things Are is a standard adventure/platformer game, but one of the better ones. I enjoyed playing through it, and getting all the trophies was easy. Some parts were a little tough for my daughter to do on her own (she's just 3 but beat New Super Mario Bros. for DS last year), but it's probably easy for kids 5 and up. There's no blood or gore here, aside from bugs exploding when you smash 'em. At the very least, rent it and see how it goes.

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I loved this game! I originally bought it for my son who loves all wtwta stuff. I usually don't like video games based on films but this was the exception. It was entertaining and imaginitve and just challenging enough to keep it interesting. I had a lot of fun alternating turns with my son. If you're looking for a light quick play for an adult or a semi challenging game for a kid its a good buy.