Scott Pilgrim vs.The World: The Game
Developer: Ubisoft
Platform: PSN, XBLA
Rating: Worth grabbing
Length: 10hrs
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a niche game, and if you happen to fall into said niche, as I happily do, then there’s a lot to like about it. The side scrolling gameplay, 8-bit art styling and numerous old school references magnificently pay homage to games of yesteryear. As such, if you’re old enough to know what NES means then you’ll likely get a real kick out of this one. Likewise, as the name would suggest, it is based on the same great story of the film/comic series. Given that this equally enjoyable film pays homage to the gaming world, it’s no wonder the material translates so well to the consoles. Each of the evil exs roughly correlates to a level, each with their own style and set of surprises (including some tripped out secret passages and some brain-hungry zombies).
To keep the format of the game fresh, the classic side scrolling style has been re-envisioned with RPG elements. As play proceeds, the characters gain new moves, providing a good bit of variation to the gameplay. This also works well to balance the game, given that one can always rely on levelling up if an obstacle is initially too difficult. Unfortunately the gameplay isn’t without its own quirks too. For instance, when you run out of lives, you’re frustratingly forced to begin the rather lengthy levels from the start. This is made worse by the fact that you don’t regain your lives between levels, leaving you with the decision to either crack on ahead at half strength, or laboriously commit hari kari to regain your lives upon continuing.
While these issues can be generally overlooked, one that’s not so forgivable is how buggy the game is. No doubt rushed to market to match the release date of the film, on at least three occasions the game screwed up significantly enough to warrant a level restart (which in turn led to the aforementioned issue). Whilst infrequent enough not to be a deal breaker (although after one occurred within 15 minutes, first impressions weren’t great) they are however annoyingly indicative of the “release now, fix it later” policy that so many companies, including giants Rockstar and Apple, have chosen to adopt. To me it shows disrespect for the money paying (ahem) gamer. It’s time people started lifting their game.
Despite the flaws, Scott Pilgrim still managed to provide us with many hours of fun. Whilst the game isn’t going to be a hit with everyone, there’s still many of you out there (possibly now with receding hairline) that will lap this up.
TORBEN SKO
