Man vs. Wild

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Overall Man vs Wild the video game is alot of fun to play. Playing as Bear Grylls you travel around the world to try and survive the wild. You visit all sorts of places;sahara,rocky mountians,and patagonia, my favorite was the everglades. I only wish there was more levels to play thats why I gave this game a 4star. I'm a huge fan of Man vs Wild the tv series so this game adds to the fun and excitment for the world of Bear Grylls. If you feel the same way you'll certainly love this game.

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A game, based on a TV show, is going to suck. And suck this game does. Since my trophy addiction has me playing anything, regardless of quality, I knew it was only a matter of time before this game got a spin on my PS3. Now that I am done with it, I am not sure what to think. I know this is probably one of the worst games I have ever played. I know that it was a very easy platinum. But was my 15 hours of pain and suffering worth said platinum? I'm not sure, bear with me (pun intended) while I try to figure that out.

The game is based on the TV show of the same name, starring Bear Grylls. The camera follows Bear around as he does some really stupid stuff, but it's all in the name of survival so it's kind of fun to watch. He constantly puts himself in situations most normal people wouldn't want anything to do with and he somehow manages to stay pretty chipper for the camera. I've never been a huge fan of the show, I catch it here and there, so when I heard a game was coming out it wasn't something that really caught my interest.

Just like any easy platinum, of course it was only a matter of time before it hit my radar. I'm still not sure if I wished I never heard of it or if it was nice to put another trophy into the case. The game more or less follows several episodes of Man vs. Wild and puts you in some of the same situations that Bear has actually been in. There are 5 total locations to travel through and even though the game looks awful, the areas are varied enough to not all feel the same. You will go through the Rockies, Everglades, Egyptian deserts, a deserted island and a snow covered area in Peru. All of the maps are a decent size, but since the graphics are so awful, they aren't exactly a pleasure to roam.

The game-play is actually kind of varied and I think there are some OK ideas that just suffered from poor execution. There is your basic running, walking and climbing, but the game also includes challenges like building a fire, fighting animals, jumping on vines and cooking meat. Each action has its own set of controls. To build a shelter first you must find the required objects and then you need to use the right and left sticks to put the items together, hold them in their designated spots for a certain amount of time and then your shelter is built. To make a fire you, again, need to find the required items but after that you need to pick a method to start the fire. You can use a flint, wood or bow. All of the options are unique and they try to somewhat mirror the motions of real life. For instance the game has you move the left and right sticks up and down to simulate your hands been rubbed.

Even though there is variety in the gameplay, it's so poorly put together that it is rarely fun. On the last level you have to catch a horse, break it and then ride it on to a train. The game gives very poor direction on what exactly should be done to make this happen and it turned into a hair pulling experience. On top of random events that are either boring or poorly put together, the jumping controls flat out suck. At times I would miss my jump entirely or I would hit the side of the mountain and kind of drift down the side. Then there were times where Bear randomly did front flips to cross an area. Every time that happened I had to laugh a little because it's so random in a game that is trying to be realistic. Another thing that drove me nuts was the use of a "grappling" hook in which you had to rotate the right stick as fast as you could and then aim with the left stick to hit your target. It was annoying, to put it politely.

At this point you might be wondering if I have anything good to say about the game. I don't. It's a cluster of bad controls, terrible graphics and annoying gameplay. There is no story or narrative. There is literally one reason to play this game and that is trophies. If you don't care about trophies, just stay away. There is nothing fun to do here. The only thing the game does well is Bear's voice acting but that's because he's just playing himself. I guess if you are a huge fan of the show there might be some redeeming qualities but I really doubt it. Most people will play this game to add a platinum trophy to their collection and move on. That's all this one is good for.

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I played a little bit of this game and I can personally say, as an avid gamer, that the it isn't of the quality of say Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid (I only use these games as reference as they're an over the shoulder cam game, such as this one). However, it does include many things Bear does in the show. And the way you start fires, build shelters, and fish is quite remarkable. Although not as challenging as I had hoped, it is still a pleasant first game by Bear. I hope to see better games come out by him as I believe a survival game done by Discovery and Bear Grylls has the potential to be quite good. I also want to make it known that although I did play this, it wasn't purchased for myself but rather my father who is a VERY BIG Bear Grylls fan, he is collecting just about everything that has Bear Grylls on it.

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In general, expectations color any person's review. People can try to be unbiased, but a large disappointment with a decent game will often rate lower than an expected less-than-average game. It's just the nature of the beast. And yet, here is an example of a game which I played with the lowest possible expectations, and it still managed to disappoint me. That's quite a feat. But the fact is, "Man vs. Wild" is up there (down there?) with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1 as one of the single worst gaming experiences I've had on this, or any system. What further amazes is that I finished everything in the game in around 5.5 hours. Let's not kid ourselves: when you combine schlock jocks Crave Entertainment with a game made from a TV show (which I've never watched, and now never will), you're looking for trouble. But it's amazing just how bad this game is.

The first (and biggest) flaw with the game is how slow it moves. Bear Grylls might be an adventurer extraordinaire, but his digital form is pathetic. He runs about the same speed that my grandmother would walk. It takes forever for him to make a 180 degree turn. And yet, he somehow creates enough momentum to slide to a stop in all instances. And of course, when he's actually, you know, adventuring, he's even slower. Marvel at how long he takes to climb a rock face. Strangely, at times, he'll just stop moving, and won't do anything (apparently, there are a slew of invisible walls on every cliffside). Swimming in a bog is even more hilarious it takes FOREVER to get across. The same is true for quicksand, or sawgrass, or sand storms, or...pretty much anything. This game is way too slow.

In fact, boring QTEs dominate this game. They're all mind-numbingly easy (with the sole exception of the very last one, which is poorly detailed and thus takes forever). Failure generally occurred for me because I stopped paying attention. Moreover, as mentioned above, they are terrible slow. Finally, they are much longer than they need to be. For example, there is an event where you warm up by doing jumping jacks. Somehow, this is translated into a Guitar Hero-style "hit the correct button as the icon moves over the button face" minigame. It's very easy, but even if you fail over and over, the event is so long that ultimately, you will succeed, unless you drop the controller. QTEs are just not the way to go in a game like this.

Even more egregious than the QTEs, though, is the balancing you'll often have to do. For example, at times, Bear will have to tightrope across fallen logs. In a decent game, you would be able to see that Bear is losing his balance because his character will tilt to the right or left. Apparently, that cost too many polygons for developer Scientifically Proven. So instead, the camera behind Bear will begin to move. Throughout the game, I never got a grip on this, although I did pass it (even if you fall, you can usually climb right back up). It just doesn't make sense (and hilariously, all of the rules change at the very end of the game).

Bear Grylls narration is the sole high point of the game. The sound in general is pretty poor. The music is disastrous it recalls an 8-bit time when the same tune was put on an infinite loop. Thankfully, it can be zoned out rather easily. You will hear various animal sounds throughout the game, but you'll rarely see the animals in question. In a few missions, you are expected to find animals of interest. I think I saw maybe 50% of the animals, even though every one was registered properly.

The graphics are a nightmare. It's hard to get your bearings at times because everything looks exactly the same. To combat this (hilariously), our prudent developers have done 2 things:

1) The game is almost completely linear, and

2) when you lose your way, you can look for yellow, glowing orbs to light your path

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but they don't actually set out lights for Bear Grylls to follow on his show? That seems to make the adventure aspect much less exciting. But here? Well, lazy developer, lazy publisher, and hurried product net you total crap.

There are optional tasks in each adventure. They are completely silly. One of them will have you finding trash in the everglades. Yes, adventurer Bear Grylls takes time out of his quest to survive to go look for a toilet that someone left in the everglades. And why would someone leave a toilet in the everglades, anyway? Interesting animals? Sure I can buy that. But...camel bones? A volleyball on a deserted island? It's just so stupid.

The trophies in this game are a cinch, assuming you can put up with this atrocity of a game. That's why I played it, after all. But otherwise, stay far, far away from this piece of crap.

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My son loved this ..and we would order it again if we had to...we have ordered lots of games off here and he loves them ..Thanks for yalls good work