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The Princess Bride
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Graphics & Sound:
Who is this, Hannah Montana? I guess I'm old, because the opening song for The Princess Bride game is sung by one of those sugary pop singers out there that I can't name (it turns out the group is called Clique Girlz, by the way.) You can probably see where this is going though. When your favorite 80's movie meets preteen pop culture, it tends to go downhill from there. Yes, I'm one of those people that cringed with disgust at the recent JC Penny commercial that attempted to be a mini Breakfast Club remake. Still, I'm trying to appreciate all this for what it is. I suppose they're trying to make this entertaining for younger kids. Excuse me while I grumble about how I was a kid when I watched the original movie, but I digress.
So, although all the voices are not from the original cast members, there are actually a few people from The Princess Bride who are lending their talents here. And the art here for characters and other things in the game is all flash animation, but it is fairly well done. A few nicely animated cinema scenes are scattered throughout the game to tell the story as well. Warm colors, nice bits of detail - it is a charming game. But it retains that feel of a web-based game, especially in levels like the Fire Swamp, where you play tiny, stiff characters in a platforming environment.
For me at least, this is an odd choice in terms of style. It's almost like a Saturday morning cartoon version of the movie. I'm left wondering why, as the game never really seems to justify this choice of style. Once again, I suppose it's for the kids, but more on that later. |
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Gameplay:
The Princess Bride suffers from the often occurring problem with movie-based games in which you have to have seen the movie to understand the game. This game has a pretty bad case of it, as I don't think you'd have a clue as to who the characters are, or why anything is funny if you hadn't seen the movie. Granted, you've had over 20 years to do so, but I always think the game based on a movie should stand alone and make you interested in the movie, and vice versa. For example, when Vizzini plays the poison guessing game with the man in black, well, they sort of skipped that part. Vizzini talks to the man in black and then just falls over, and then afterwards grandpa babbles something about iocane powder not having a scent. Sorry, what? Yes, if you're a Princess Bride fan, you're going to be a little disappointed with how far they went to miss the humor here. If you're not a fan, I have no idea how you'll tell what's going on. The wit and layers of humor are completely stripped away here.
But moving past that sore issue, there is a game here. There are several varieties of gameplay available. The Time Management level will have you clicking and dragging bags of feed, fetching water, and defending the chicken coop against foxes. You have to keep up with ever-increasing farming tasks that continue to overlap. It's the type of thing you'll like if you like frantic pointing and clicking games like Insaniquarium. The Battle of Wits level is a basic trivia game, and I mean very basic until you get into later levels. Miracle Max's stage is a game of hide and seek (which is actually not as easy as it seems due to the detailed backgrounds), and potion mixing which requires you to follow some simple rules in order to mix the correct potion. There's also the Fire Swamp, where you play a platforming game with Westley and Buttercup that involves a lot of gem collecting and rodent bashing.
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Difficulty:
The Princess Bride is about as easy as they come. You can play on into some more difficult content, but there's nothing in here that will challenge the average gamer. As an example, the Battle of Wits level starts off ridiculously easy. There's a multiple choice question with a picture of a king beside it that asks, "A crown on a king's head indicates what?" Then that question leads into another question "What color is this man's hair?' Wait, really? Granted, that's in the first round of questions, but it should let you know what you're in store for. The questions actually repeat frequently, making it easier as you progress. The only thing that gets more difficult is the number of questions you're asked to answer per round.
Of course with several different types of games here, you might have more trouble with one versus another. If you're absolutely horrible at platformers, you might have trouble with the Fire Swamp level. Other than that, expect a pretty simple, casual game experience here.
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Game Mechanics:
Point-and-click makes up the majority of what you'll be doing in The Princess Bride. There is the platforming Fire Swamp level, however, that counts as the most complicated gameplay in the game. It's not the smoothest platformer, and it plays about as well as the average flash-based platform game out there. The Princess Bride also has the same issues that most flash based games seem to have with point-and-click action: you don't always know where exactly the "sweet spot" for clicking is. You might thing you've clicked on a chicken, for example, but when you drag away, it does not follow. You can get the hang of it eventually, but it just doesn't feel solid. These are all fairly minor things for a simple game, and this game does not pretend to be anything else.
I was pretty excited to pick this up, but the excitement soon faded. This is a minor diversion for a fan of the movie, and a cute set of games, but I just don't get it. It feels like the story elements were randomly lifted from the movie. There's just not much creativity to keep you going past a quick diversion here. |
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-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications AKA Christin Deville |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP/Vista, 1.4 GHz or faster, 512 MB RAM, 100 MB available hard disk space, Integrated Sound, Integrated 3D Graphics with 64 MB or higher RAM (Direct X compatible) |
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Test System:
Windows XP, 3.20 GigaHertz Intel Pentium 4, 4 GB Ram, RADEON X850, Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS |
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