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IGN Review of EA Playground
It seems like every third party publisher in the world wants a piece of the gaming sensation that is Wii Sports. Ubisoft, Midway, THQ and EA - name the company and there's a good chance it has at least one Wii Sports clone in the works for Nintendo's console. EA Playground from the monolithic software company is the latest entry into the ever-widening genre of mini-game-fests. Of course, we don't think the third party would proudly promote the moniker "mini-game-fest" to summarize its title, but when you strip away the cute, MySims-style exterior and the ability to collect virtual stickers, you are effectively exploring a school in search of mini-games to play. The school itself is well realized, both larger and filled with more characters and little challenges than we had expected. The problem, though, is that few of the mini-games at the playground are as well designed or as addictive as those in Wii Sports - which is, you know, free.
In EA Playground, you are a new student sent out into the schoolyard to explore, meet friends, compete in games and collect marbles scattered about the environment to earn stickers, which can be used to buy upgrades for the way you play. For example, you might be able to purchase a boost in slot-car racing, or a paper airplane that can blow through wind funnels in paper racers, or even a power serve in dodgeball. The list goes on. These stickers offer genuine incentives to keep playing, to participate in another competitive challenge, to keep collecting marbles, so that you can advance. In addition, the title keeps track of all your stats (which can be accessed by pressing the minus button) so you can easily see the challenges you still need to complete and the items you still need to collect.
The playground is comprised of four different sections which make up the single-player experience. These different areas become unlocked as you compete in minis and beat opponents to collect stickers, and each new portion of the world houses more students and thus more mini-game challenges. The school itself is colorful and highly stylized. It looks like something out of MySims, which makes the fact that you can't import and play with your own Mii doubly disappointing. Still, the space is large and varied - you'll see everything from typical playgrounds complete with teeter-totters and sandboxes to full-blown stadiums seemingly designed for a track and field experience. EA has attempted to add depth to the virtual world through tasks that exist beyond the minis. For instance, you might have to go on a bug hunt or prove that you can dribble a basketball in succession for a predetermined number of times. These extras do give you something to come back for outside of the minis.
There will always be those who complain the game's visual style is too cuddly for its own good, but we appreciate the look. Still, we do take issue with two drawbacks to playground exploration. First, it's all done with the D-Pad on the Wii remote - Playground ignores the nunchuk - and it feels clumsy. Second, the fluidity sometimes dips below 30 frames, which shouldn't happen.
The setup for the mini-games is all good and fine, but let's be honest here - you're not going to buy or play EA Playground for the story or for the character development. If you do, you need to seriously reconsider your priorities. And where EA's title really obliterates Wii Sports in presentation, so is it obliterated by Nintendo's game in mini-game execution. Which is not to say that the minis in Playground are contrived or necessarily poor - they aren't. There are seven total games, including dodgeball, kicks (modified soccer), paper racers (paper airplanes), slot-car racing, tetherball, wall ball (hand ball), and dart shootout, which is something of an on-rails shooter with dart guns.
Some of these games are enjoyable. We particularly like paper racers. You hold the Wii remote like a paper airplane and make a throwing motion, at which point the on-screen plane takes off. Then, you have to guide the craft through a 3D environment as it races forward by tilting to the left or right, up or down with the controller. It's simple, but fun. So is dart shootout, which takes full advantage of the Wii remote's infrared technology to enable pinpoint first-person shooting precision for multiple players. But on the other hand, some of the games are incredibly shallow. Take wall ball, for instance. All you do is swing the Wii remote left or right to hit the ball when it comes to you. It's so easy that it's difficult to lose, a truth demonstrated time and again in 150-volley matches to earn one of five points. You will actually find yourself looking at your watch as you play. The same goes for tetherball.
Indeed, what EA Playground needs is a game (or, better yet, multiple games) with the same addictive element of Wii Sports bowling or golf, both of which subtly use the controller for very realistic (and convincingly one-to-one, even if it's faked) control results. And frankly, EA's game doesn't include anything that comes close. Its minis aren't all bad, but neither do they near the quality and cut of the best ones from Wii Sports - the biggest downside to owning this project. On a brighter note, four of the seven games in Playground support four players - the other three are compatible with two - and therefore younger players may find something to like in the schoolyard.
©2007-10-25, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
In EA Playground, you are a new student sent out into the schoolyard to explore, meet friends, compete in games and collect marbles scattered about the environment to earn stickers, which can be used to buy upgrades for the way you play. For example, you might be able to purchase a boost in slot-car racing, or a paper airplane that can blow through wind funnels in paper racers, or even a power serve in dodgeball. The list goes on. These stickers offer genuine incentives to keep playing, to participate in another competitive challenge, to keep collecting marbles, so that you can advance. In addition, the title keeps track of all your stats (which can be accessed by pressing the minus button) so you can easily see the challenges you still need to complete and the items you still need to collect.
The playground is comprised of four different sections which make up the single-player experience. These different areas become unlocked as you compete in minis and beat opponents to collect stickers, and each new portion of the world houses more students and thus more mini-game challenges. The school itself is colorful and highly stylized. It looks like something out of MySims, which makes the fact that you can't import and play with your own Mii doubly disappointing. Still, the space is large and varied - you'll see everything from typical playgrounds complete with teeter-totters and sandboxes to full-blown stadiums seemingly designed for a track and field experience. EA has attempted to add depth to the virtual world through tasks that exist beyond the minis. For instance, you might have to go on a bug hunt or prove that you can dribble a basketball in succession for a predetermined number of times. These extras do give you something to come back for outside of the minis.
There will always be those who complain the game's visual style is too cuddly for its own good, but we appreciate the look. Still, we do take issue with two drawbacks to playground exploration. First, it's all done with the D-Pad on the Wii remote - Playground ignores the nunchuk - and it feels clumsy. Second, the fluidity sometimes dips below 30 frames, which shouldn't happen.
The setup for the mini-games is all good and fine, but let's be honest here - you're not going to buy or play EA Playground for the story or for the character development. If you do, you need to seriously reconsider your priorities. And where EA's title really obliterates Wii Sports in presentation, so is it obliterated by Nintendo's game in mini-game execution. Which is not to say that the minis in Playground are contrived or necessarily poor - they aren't. There are seven total games, including dodgeball, kicks (modified soccer), paper racers (paper airplanes), slot-car racing, tetherball, wall ball (hand ball), and dart shootout, which is something of an on-rails shooter with dart guns.
Some of these games are enjoyable. We particularly like paper racers. You hold the Wii remote like a paper airplane and make a throwing motion, at which point the on-screen plane takes off. Then, you have to guide the craft through a 3D environment as it races forward by tilting to the left or right, up or down with the controller. It's simple, but fun. So is dart shootout, which takes full advantage of the Wii remote's infrared technology to enable pinpoint first-person shooting precision for multiple players. But on the other hand, some of the games are incredibly shallow. Take wall ball, for instance. All you do is swing the Wii remote left or right to hit the ball when it comes to you. It's so easy that it's difficult to lose, a truth demonstrated time and again in 150-volley matches to earn one of five points. You will actually find yourself looking at your watch as you play. The same goes for tetherball.
Indeed, what EA Playground needs is a game (or, better yet, multiple games) with the same addictive element of Wii Sports bowling or golf, both of which subtly use the controller for very realistic (and convincingly one-to-one, even if it's faked) control results. And frankly, EA's game doesn't include anything that comes close. Its minis aren't all bad, but neither do they near the quality and cut of the best ones from Wii Sports - the biggest downside to owning this project. On a brighter note, four of the seven games in Playground support four players - the other three are compatible with two - and therefore younger players may find something to like in the schoolyard.
©2007-10-25, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved