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Family Guy Review
User Submitted Family Guy Reviews
Date: 2007-11-11
Fun To Play, But Frustrasting Game Design
Fans of the television show will get a kick out of what amounts to an extra full bonus episode of Family Guy, with voices by some actual cast members and cool animation, great jokes and sight gags, and some of those random, non-sequitirs that the show is known for. I do feel that the game is fun enough to recommend, but ONLY if you can find the game for $5.00 (five dollars) or less. Otherwise, you're better off putting that money towards DVDs of the show itself. The problem is that because of the strange thought process the game's designers put into it, you may quickly grow too frustrated to care about getting to the end, to see all of the parts of the bonus episode. (You do get to see segments as you complete pairs of levels, but that's pretty much the only reward for completing the game...) My version is on the original XBox gaming system.
The premise of the game is okay, if not slightly disappointing that while you see many of the show's characters, most don't speak, and you only can play as three of them... But on the bright side, those three are Peter, Stewie, and Brian. You don't get to choose when, but you get to play as all three, as the game is laid out where the levels alternate with a different character. All of Stewie's levels are intellectually based involving strategy, ray guns, minor puzzles, Peter's levels are fun fighting/brawlfests, and Brian's are all stealth missions, where you have to hide and sneak around. While Peter's and Stewie missions are a blast, the problem is that Brian's levels are the hardest and not remotely as fun as Peter's or Stewie's to warrant being that difficult. Peter and Stewie's levels are the type you hope will never end and they feel like they go by too soon, whereas Brian's levels feel like a punishment, or a deep level of purgatory. And this is where the trouble with the game really becomes transparent.
If you get stuck and/or bored with one of Brian's levels (which 9 out of 10 of you are sure to do), you're out of luck, as you'll need to complete his level before you can go back to a Peter or Stewie level. If you die, even when you've collected most of what Brian has to collect, you still have to start the level again and do the same exact things over and over again. Unlike Peter and Stewie's levels where you can move in many different directions to accomplish the mission of the level, Brian's levels pretty much require you to follow the same path you've done already, if you have to restart that level. So unless you have a severe case of OCD, or are a major fan of masochism, this repetition may leave you wanting to turn off the game; never to return.
This also leads to the second major problem: There are no game save features and no multi-player options, not even the ability to create different player profiles so that friends or family can try without messing up your progress. This is completely ridiculous for a game based on a show with such a strong, religious fanbase. No more than one player at a time?!? On the surface, this seems not to be a big deal... until you play the game and get locked into Brian Purgatory. Say you have enough of that nonsense, decide to take a break, turn off the game and return, when you come back, the game WILL remember where you left off, BUT if you or anyone else should start up a NEW game before you've beat the game... your previous game and all the headaches you went through will be WRITTEN OVER, ERASED, GONE FOR GOOD. Otherwise, if like me, you have more than one Family Guy fanatic in the house... you either are going to have to take turns on levels with the same controller, or one of you is never going to get to play until the other one has finished every single level of the game.
I got about halfway through the game, in a couple of days, before I threw in the towel. I may take another crack at it, just because I really liked the Peter and Stewie levels, would love to see the whole episode, and would love to make it to the Peter vs. The Chicken level... but again, the Brian parts and the setup of this game are maddening. I would think that designers of a game based on a beloved Animated Fox show would have learned lessons from the even more frustrating Futurama video game that was released some years ago. Family Guy The Video Game could have been, as Peter would say, "Frickin' Sweet!," but instead the game designers made some really poor, lazy choices in basic game design that make it difficult even for a die-hard Family Guy fan like myself to laugh more than curse the screen. This is a game that had the potential to be enjoyed by groups or pairs of people at one time, but instead, they've made it frustrating for even one person to get through.
Let's hope another, improved Family Guy game is released. But unless that happens, it's not a good idea to spend more than a few dollars on this one, because let's face it... even if you make it through to the end... you're not likely to want to play it again and again, nor will people watching you play be likely to want to give it a try.
Date: 2007-06-01
Family Rocks and so does the game! =)
This is the best game! if u like family u frikin love this so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2007-05-06
If you like family guy, you will like this game.
Great game, delivered on time.
Date: 2007-01-18
Not worth the cost
This game may be some what entertaining, but Brian's parts are really hard to get past unless you look them up on the internet. I beat this game in five days, and you don't get anything special once you beat it. You would be better off renting this game than paying $30 for something you will only play for a week.
Date: 2007-01-13
Family Guy
Game is ok. Nice to see some of our favorite cartoon characters on a video game.
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