The Simpsons Game

November 9,2007 - The Simpsons, America’s longest running sitcom, has seen substantial success despite a slight decline in recent years. The film provided a rejuvenation this past summer, but gamers haven’t had a solid Simpsons experience in quite some time. The Hit & Run series has been pretty good, but nothing to write home about. But now, Simpson fans, it’s time to hold off pouring quarters into the arcade at the pizza parlor and get a copy of The Simpsons Game.

As with anything Simpsons, Springfield is the victim of oddities. The game is set up very heavily like the show, with each mission being an episode. The training mission takes place in Homer’s dream: The Land of Chocolate. After you’re done chasing the White Chocolate Rabbit, the major premise for the game is an alien attack. Every mission is “unique” in the sense that it will have you doing something different every time, but unique is in parentheses because all of the missions are either direct parodies (Medal of Homer) or just include them (Mob Rules). Unfortunately, you will not be able to play a mission for Sitar Hero featuring Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. D’oh! The entire campaign shouldn’t take you too long to complete, but you can always run around Springfield and go back for time trials. Co-op is also available in a drop-in type mode. Unfortunately, it doesn't have online capabilities.

Without a doubt, the game prides itself on its parodies. But it is able to do something the series hasn’t been able to do in quite some time: make it clever and quick. In the earlier years of the series, you had to be quick to catch the references. While it may not always be that way now, the game will have you on your toes and it’s hilarious. The characters find out early on that they are in the game and the self references are very well played. Setting it up like the show also works very well without ever getting too old. You also don’t have to be a big fan of the show to enjoy it. It helps, but the references come in a wide array. For instance, in a level featuring Comic Book Guy-esque sumo wrestlers, they will shout, “I can’t get up! I can’t GET UP!” That’s a reference to A Christmas Story, for those who don’t know. While most of the material is spoken, looking around Springfield and mission locations will result in finding many other references. We will go on record and say that Homer’s exclamation of “5 bucks says Spore is never released!” to Will Wright is pure genius. Of course, EA takes the butt end of the joke a lot of the time.

The gameplay is simple yet effective. Each family member has their own suitable abilities. For instance, Homer can inflate himself into a fat ball while Bart can turn into Bartman when necessary (unfortunately, no El Barto). There are some points in the game where you will be able to control all the family members for a mission, but for the most part you will only take control of two—who they are depends on the mission. Switching between the characters is relatively easy and should one die you will instantly switch to the other. You will be able to revive your other teammate or just wait for them to get back up themselves. Should you both die though, get ready for Nelson Muntz.

Our one major gripe with the game would be the awful, horrendous camera. It’s ok for some of the time, but controlling it is almost out of the question. When you try to rotate the camera, it will block itself after a certain point. Many times it can lead to screwing up your movement if you’re not careful. It didn’t seem this bad in our initial hands on of the game, but the final product is something else entirely.

As far as graphics go, the game rightfully uses a 3D cell-shaded method. It works better than if they went to strictly 3D models, but it still just looks pretty good. The animated cutscenes look great, but it’s mostly because it’s 2D animation. Should you have high definition, you’ll be that much better off. The sound is solid. All of the voice actors provided their voices, which is essential, and the things you’ll hear about Springfield are great. All of the music is very appropriate and mood setting.

In the end, what you are presented with is a very solid Simpsons title. Its humor, as stated, goes beyond just pleasing regular and hardcore Simpsons fans. The self references mixed with cultural ones are worked out brilliantly, and hopefully it spurs the show’s writers to step up the effort and return it back to its roots. So aside from the camera, the game is just find-diddly-ine to go on out and pick up. Woo hoo!

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