Naughty Bear- Review

When all the bears went to play, Naughty Bear was left behind. So what does a surly bear with an angry disposition do? Get even. See how this game roars up the scores in this review.

In Naughty Bear your not invited to Daddles birthday. So you decide to tear apart the lovable characters of this somewhat deluded world. The problem is the game just doesn’t get it. Whatever it is.

Gameplay

The fundemental part of this game is running around and finding imaginative ways to kill your victims. However there are several problems with this. Firstly killing bears in horrible brutality is immense, for the first 15 minutes. After this 15 minutes you find yourself wondering if this is all you will be doing in the game. Its painstakingly tedious after a while which is not aided by my next point. Bulky controls and dodgey camera angles. The attack sequences made me reminisce of another next gen title that has just had a sequel announced, what title you ask? Saw. That’s how bulky and slow the game-play is. Followed swiftly by camera angles that make sure you can’t really see the bear your attacking, the game-play brings so make aggravation. Don’t get me wrong shoving a little teddy bears face into an electrical circuit box is so entertaining I collapsed in a fit of giggles but its just not enough. We were promised a range of different ways to kill bears but the reality is there isn’t that many. I mean this game is perfect for maybe a half hour of laughs with your friends but it can’t be taken seriously and this would be absolutely fine, except for the fact that your tasks are made to be taken seriously. For example early on in the game you are given a task to not be hit by anyone including crazy ninja bears, which is a right task and a half. In the end we expected a vibrant array of bear massacre and we get it but its just not sewed up nicely.

Storyline

Naughty Bear is the Naughty Bear on Perfection Island. The bears decide to throw a terrific birthday for Daddles Bear, but Naughty Bear and his horribly naughty antics could ruin this. So the bears decide to exclude Naughty Bear from the party. What does this spell? Revenge. The story is so simple yet so wonderful at the same time. This is where the game begins to get me questioning my review on the game-play. Its so simple yet so imaginative that I can’t help but fall in love with it. I mean its a teddy bear massacring teddy bears. It’s like when you watch a child’s tv show and you want the lovable characters to all pull out guns and have a shoot off. Did no-body want to see Barney the dinosaur riding Thomas the Tank engine whilst drive by-ing Postman Pat? On this basis the game really doesn’t need much of a storyline besides this simply because of comedic value. Its a concept that gamers like myself have been desperately waiting for. Fair play to 505 Games for coming up with it.

Graphics

Again another issue with this game. The graphics don’t stand up to other titles. The killing effects just look poor in some cases, like setting bears on fire. Putting an axe in a bears head should leave some sort of hack mark in him, but unfortunately not in this game. It’s almost like ps2 graphics with a little turn up on the HD. I was genuinely shocked when I saw how bad the graphics were. The game could be so much more enjoyable if the graphics were turned up but they just aren’t up to scratch. A teddy bear must have some sort of physical defect when there’s a sword coming out of his chest but he simply doesn’t. Its almost infuriating that more effort hasn’t been put in.

Multiplayer/Soundtrack

The soundtrack is simplistic of music you would expect on a place called Perfection Island. Catchy little jingles entertain you around every corner until the fuzz turn up and the dramatic music kicks in. On the multiplayer aspect the game has an innovative points system that ranks up to your online tags. You receive points for just how naughty you can be and this is done by killing, scaring or tampering with just about anything in this world. It creates a nice little competitive game with your friends however there is no online feature as such which provides maiming of your friends. This is something that would have been great to watch.

Good Points

• Concept
• Story
• Innovative online feature

Bad Points

• Everything else.

Conclusion

Naughty Bear is a game that just feels rushed. To be fair the concept is out of this world, but it seems a shame to have ruined it on such a bulky game that quite frankly looks massively unfinished. Besides this there is a likeability factor to this game. So if you are looking for something to entertain you for 15 mins buy this game. If not don’t go near it.