REVIEWS : Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People: Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner
REVIEWS : Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People: Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner
Submitted by YellowJacketGuy on Mon, 08/11/2008 - 07:29
Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People: Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner
Platform: PC (reviewed), WiiWare
Release Date: August 11, 2008
Telltale Games has a pretty good thing going for it by bringing back the old graphic adventure genre. They also made it easier to access by making bite-size chunks of a full game, as the older tales tended to grate on you if you didn’t know what you were doing. While Sam & Max Freelance Police has gone through two seasons, another cartoon (of sorts) wants to invade your PC and Wii (probably quite literally, if it could). From Videlectrix, makers of Trogdor Does Advanced Mathematics (or something equally weirdly titled) comes Strong Bad’s first foray into video games: Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People.
Episode 1, dubbed Homestar Ruiner, starts off like a Strong Bad E-mail cartoon. Usually this ends up in a series of flashbacks and what-if situations, but in this case, it’s the catalyst for the episode. By the end, surprisingly, the e-mail question is actually answered in the usual convoluted way, and makes for good entertainment. What we're eventually given is a usual set of objectives to get to the end. Along the way you find items to use later on. This seems really standard for the old graphic adventure, but this game has a couple extra things to keep you going.
This is the first graphic adventure I’ve played where you can go off the beaten path to find things for little “easter egg side quests”, such as getting ideas for the Teen Girl Squad comic (CLIFF NOTED!) and finding the super-secret code for Snake Boxer 5’s forbidden level. While this is still relegated to the “fetch quest” category, it fits well with the easter eggs that are well known in the Homestar Runnercartoons, and those familiar with the universe will find them welcome distractions. There are also trophies for doing obscure things - and we're talking REALLY obscure. Like trimming hedges. Really.
While SBCG4AP: E1: HR still falls under the same traps as earlier graphic adventures, the hint system from Sam & Max Freelance Police is still intact if you get stuck. I also like the idea that you can access the map from anywhere in the game and magically transport Strong Bad to the location you need to be. I like the idea of a fully customizable map, to the point of choosing the location of the notable points of interest.
I think the only nitpickyness for me would be the fact that it doesn’t support my actual native resolution of 1600X1050, but again, that’s being really nitpicky. I would have liked to see the use of all the characters in more than just a cameo fashion. While most of the characters are essential to the gameplay (I was really surprised by the Poopsmith’s role), some characters, like The Cheat, end up being joke fodder, and not essential to the story. The gameplay isn’t that bad, but it still falls into the old pitfall of “must use this item at this location”, and people that get stuck won’t like using every item on every single place you can. If it weren’t for the banter between the characters, the interest might have been lost sooner.
Strong Bad’s first outing into the game world isn’t a bad start. They use a genre near and dear to my heart, and I feel the execution is pretty good. It still falls into the same pits that older and more elaborate adventures do, but at least there’s a hint system that will try to help you along. It’s a fun diversion for the hour or two you’ll devote to it. Hopefully the other episodes will be just as fun. So far, Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People is a pretty cool game.
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