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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: Artificial Mind and Move Publisher: Midway |
When it comes to every license that is made on the movie screen or television screen, there is at least one new game that appears on
store shelves, most of them on multiple consoles. This brings players basically the same version of the game to each possible
console. “The Ant Bully” has been released on multiple consoles, and young gamers will want to make sure they get their hands on a
copy, especially on the Wii because of the fact that this version of the game uses the Wii Remote capabilities.
“The Ant Bully” follows a very familiar formula to deliver a simple adventure for young gamers. The story follows Lucas the Destroyer
just moments after he has been transformed to ant size. Just like in the movie, Lucas will have to learn the ways of the ants and help to
protect the colony in order to return to human size. To complete the necessary missions, Lucas is given various weapons such as a
wooden staff, a larva silk shooter, a dart bow and seed bombs.
After a quick introduction, players are left to fend for themselves in the colony. There are a variety of areas to get new missions, but the
game still works in a very linear fashion, only allowing one mission choice at a time. As the game progresses there is more freedom,
but the most of the game is free roaming. Also, the introduction to the game offers no tutorial stage, so while the opening moments of
the adventure are simple, they don’t describe basic movement or control.
Rather than defaulting game play to a normal difficulty, “The Ant Bully” combines familiar play mechanics from high end adventure
games. The controls are very unusual for a licensed game, having Lucas jump and climb automatically. Other than the context
sensitive situations and weapon management, nearly all the navigation can be done with the analog stick. Not only does player
movement lend itself to larger scale adventure games, “The Ant Bully” actually uses Z targeting for lock-on attacks. Players simply need
to pull the L trigger and Lucas locks onto the nearest enemy, focusing only on the target. The camera even goes into a letterbox mode
when lock-on is used.
Unfortunately “The Ant Bully” obviously didn’t have enough time or money to create a game with a lot of depth and polish a full adventure
game, and the execution suffers because of it. While some of the areas are very entertain and fun, especially those that are based
around combat, the majority of the game is filled with fetching questions. Whether it is seeking out parts for a new weapon or gathering
items for food and supplies, players will be subjected to one level after another going from one waypoint to the next. The game is
actually very difficult at key points and players will have to gather or protect multiple items from enemy bugs and losing a single item
mean the entire mission has to be replayed, and some of the levels can last up to twenty minutes. Players will be left with a game that
appears to be fairly solid, but it is full of random issues that will definitely pile up and distract the players very quickly.
As with all next generation game launches, player are going to get a few games that just don’t like up to the title they are given. For “The
Ant Bully,” the development team seems to take the existing GameCube version of the game, went back into the original coding and
created a simple but functional control scheme centered on the Wii Remote and it actually work fairly well. Players control Lucas with
the analog stick of the Nunchuk controller, attacking with either motion on the Wii Remote or the tap of the B trigger. As with the
GameCube version of the game, the A button is used as a context sensitive action button and camera control has moved from the
GameCube’s C stick over to a tilt of the Nunchuk. When powering up for a strong attack, players can hold the B trigger and then swipe
horizontally or vertically with the Wii Remote depending on which special attack they want to use. Overall the controls work well, but they
don’t really add much to the game.
As a total package, “The Ant Bully” is a mix of good and bad. While the game play is somewhat entertaining at times, borrowing a few
design elements from some of the best adventure games available; it is the fetching quests that get in the way of the game being much
fun. Graphically the game is okay, though there is nothing that puts the effort above other licensed titles, and nothing was done to
improve the visuals for the Wii version of the game. The audio seems to be unpolished and unfinished, making the game to be very
annoying to not only the gamer, but anyone else that is able to hear the television. That combined with the repetitive game play and a
story mode that takes only a few hours to work through, and players have a licensed title that is better left for the rental shelves that for
being purchased.
For those that focus on buying the licensed titles for children, this is a title that is worth leaving alone and saving the cash until a better
game is available. “The Ant Bully” has a few moments that are entertaining, but the bar for the licensed game is slowly starting to rise
and the overall product found here isn’t up to par for what should be expected.
store shelves, most of them on multiple consoles. This brings players basically the same version of the game to each possible
console. “The Ant Bully” has been released on multiple consoles, and young gamers will want to make sure they get their hands on a
copy, especially on the Wii because of the fact that this version of the game uses the Wii Remote capabilities.
“The Ant Bully” follows a very familiar formula to deliver a simple adventure for young gamers. The story follows Lucas the Destroyer
just moments after he has been transformed to ant size. Just like in the movie, Lucas will have to learn the ways of the ants and help to
protect the colony in order to return to human size. To complete the necessary missions, Lucas is given various weapons such as a
wooden staff, a larva silk shooter, a dart bow and seed bombs.
After a quick introduction, players are left to fend for themselves in the colony. There are a variety of areas to get new missions, but the
game still works in a very linear fashion, only allowing one mission choice at a time. As the game progresses there is more freedom,
but the most of the game is free roaming. Also, the introduction to the game offers no tutorial stage, so while the opening moments of
the adventure are simple, they don’t describe basic movement or control.
Rather than defaulting game play to a normal difficulty, “The Ant Bully” combines familiar play mechanics from high end adventure
games. The controls are very unusual for a licensed game, having Lucas jump and climb automatically. Other than the context
sensitive situations and weapon management, nearly all the navigation can be done with the analog stick. Not only does player
movement lend itself to larger scale adventure games, “The Ant Bully” actually uses Z targeting for lock-on attacks. Players simply need
to pull the L trigger and Lucas locks onto the nearest enemy, focusing only on the target. The camera even goes into a letterbox mode
when lock-on is used.
Unfortunately “The Ant Bully” obviously didn’t have enough time or money to create a game with a lot of depth and polish a full adventure
game, and the execution suffers because of it. While some of the areas are very entertain and fun, especially those that are based
around combat, the majority of the game is filled with fetching questions. Whether it is seeking out parts for a new weapon or gathering
items for food and supplies, players will be subjected to one level after another going from one waypoint to the next. The game is
actually very difficult at key points and players will have to gather or protect multiple items from enemy bugs and losing a single item
mean the entire mission has to be replayed, and some of the levels can last up to twenty minutes. Players will be left with a game that
appears to be fairly solid, but it is full of random issues that will definitely pile up and distract the players very quickly.
As with all next generation game launches, player are going to get a few games that just don’t like up to the title they are given. For “The
Ant Bully,” the development team seems to take the existing GameCube version of the game, went back into the original coding and
created a simple but functional control scheme centered on the Wii Remote and it actually work fairly well. Players control Lucas with
the analog stick of the Nunchuk controller, attacking with either motion on the Wii Remote or the tap of the B trigger. As with the
GameCube version of the game, the A button is used as a context sensitive action button and camera control has moved from the
GameCube’s C stick over to a tilt of the Nunchuk. When powering up for a strong attack, players can hold the B trigger and then swipe
horizontally or vertically with the Wii Remote depending on which special attack they want to use. Overall the controls work well, but they
don’t really add much to the game.
As a total package, “The Ant Bully” is a mix of good and bad. While the game play is somewhat entertaining at times, borrowing a few
design elements from some of the best adventure games available; it is the fetching quests that get in the way of the game being much
fun. Graphically the game is okay, though there is nothing that puts the effort above other licensed titles, and nothing was done to
improve the visuals for the Wii version of the game. The audio seems to be unpolished and unfinished, making the game to be very
annoying to not only the gamer, but anyone else that is able to hear the television. That combined with the repetitive game play and a
story mode that takes only a few hours to work through, and players have a licensed title that is better left for the rental shelves that for
being purchased.
For those that focus on buying the licensed titles for children, this is a title that is worth leaving alone and saving the cash until a better
game is available. “The Ant Bully” has a few moments that are entertaining, but the bar for the licensed game is slowly starting to rise
and the overall product found here isn’t up to par for what should be expected.
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