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IGN Review of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Developer Fizz Factor has churned out quite a few movie tie in games, with mixed results. Their newest game, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – The Video Game has a really long title. Also, it's a side scrolling platformer that is sort of fun in its own right, though doesn't really feel like it's about the movie.
The Night at the Museum 2 film hasn't come out yet, so it's hard to say if this game follows the plot accurately. Especially since the opening cutscene was literally a couple lines of dialogue that went something like:
"We're off to the Smithsonian."
"Aaw I'll miss you."
"Oh no we need help!"
I assume at that point Larry Daley then headed straight to the Smithsonian to rescue tiny Owen Wilson, but the game doesn't really say. Larry runs around different exhibits in the museum, which are magically transformed into the actual environments they're talking about. Prehistoric times, ancient China, space, even modern art paintings take over the museum and transform it. It's a clever way to throw in all the platforming clichés and not have a game set entirely in a stuffy museum.
The game is a by-the-books platformer. Larry runs, he jumps, he beats up an enemy, then finishes. There is a bit of exploration to find hidden keys and badges, some of which are blocked until players earn abilities farther in the game. For the most part, however this game feels like any, and every, platformer ever made.
My biggest problem with the game is how small all the character sprites are. It's hard to tell what any of the enemies are even supposed to be. Larry fights what I assume to be Roman soldiers, gangsters… maybe some pirates? There are also some lions that look like llamas. And when the characters aren't hard to see, they're awful. The back of the packaging advertises the game's authentic movie experience through its use of Ben Stiller's likeness, but I'm calling shenanigans. Look at this thing!
There's nothing authentic about that, unless Ben Stiller came down with the mumps or was in some horrible car accident that left him disfigured.
Bust despite the fact that the game could very well be called "Vague Blue Guy Battles Vague Other Colored Guy," it's not a bad platformer. The levels look pretty good and are nicely varied. It does take a while for the gameplay to reach its stride, but once most of the abilities are unlocked the levels become pretty fun. Some of the areas are dedicated to specific abilities, while most let players use any and all of them to get to the end. It would have been nice if some of these abilities were automatic, like the ability to climb vines, but it all works pretty tightly.
©2009-05-19, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Night at the Museum 2 film hasn't come out yet, so it's hard to say if this game follows the plot accurately. Especially since the opening cutscene was literally a couple lines of dialogue that went something like:
"We're off to the Smithsonian."
"Aaw I'll miss you."
"Oh no we need help!"
I assume at that point Larry Daley then headed straight to the Smithsonian to rescue tiny Owen Wilson, but the game doesn't really say. Larry runs around different exhibits in the museum, which are magically transformed into the actual environments they're talking about. Prehistoric times, ancient China, space, even modern art paintings take over the museum and transform it. It's a clever way to throw in all the platforming clichés and not have a game set entirely in a stuffy museum.
The game is a by-the-books platformer. Larry runs, he jumps, he beats up an enemy, then finishes. There is a bit of exploration to find hidden keys and badges, some of which are blocked until players earn abilities farther in the game. For the most part, however this game feels like any, and every, platformer ever made.
My biggest problem with the game is how small all the character sprites are. It's hard to tell what any of the enemies are even supposed to be. Larry fights what I assume to be Roman soldiers, gangsters… maybe some pirates? There are also some lions that look like llamas. And when the characters aren't hard to see, they're awful. The back of the packaging advertises the game's authentic movie experience through its use of Ben Stiller's likeness, but I'm calling shenanigans. Look at this thing!
There's nothing authentic about that, unless Ben Stiller came down with the mumps or was in some horrible car accident that left him disfigured.
Bust despite the fact that the game could very well be called "Vague Blue Guy Battles Vague Other Colored Guy," it's not a bad platformer. The levels look pretty good and are nicely varied. It does take a while for the gameplay to reach its stride, but once most of the abilities are unlocked the levels become pretty fun. Some of the areas are dedicated to specific abilities, while most let players use any and all of them to get to the end. It would have been nice if some of these abilities were automatic, like the ability to climb vines, but it all works pretty tightly.
©2009-05-19, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved