Scott Pilgrim vs. the world review
Scott Pilgrim is a big movie, with big stars and a lot of hype behind it. The movie premiers in Dublin tonight, and opens to the great unwashed during the week. Before the hype train took this movie starring Michael Cera to billboards and buses everywhere, I had never heard of it. However, one thing that caught my eye was the game. It wasn’t a typical licensed game from Ubisoft or Activision along the lines of Spiderman or Bee Movie. No, this actually looked good.
Art director Paul Robertson decided not to go for blow out physics and CryEngine esque graphics with mediocre gameplay, instead putting the focus on retro 2D style graphics and old school beat-em-up gameplay. The movie is, after all, about a guy fighting ex-boyfriends.
The game cries out to anyone who loves Castle Crashers, or that kind of game. Roaming around cool environments in a cool 8-bit esque world beating wave after wave of enemy up. The movie itself is a homage to the geek chic that has come along in recent years, and the game pays homage to the culture’s gaming heroes, often quite subtly and cleverly.
I’m not an expert on all things Scott Pilgrim, but like other game tie-ins this draws from the original source material more then the movie. Originally this was a comic series, which has a lot more back story and lore attached to it then the movie has a chance to cram into 2 hours. So, this is where the game picks up the pace. This makes it a great accoutrement for fans of the movie, or even the original comics.
The game is cheap, too. This is a PSN/XBLA title rather then a boxed product to buy in bricks-and-mortar stores. A brilliant move by Ubisoft as it removes the unnecessary desire to take in €55 for each piece of mediocrity sold and makes it a better product to purchase. You don’t have to wrestle with your conscience over this one.
The price, though, is steep when you consider what the game could, or should, have. Online, for example, is not in this game at all. That’s not a euphemism for a bad online experience – it’s actually not part of the game at all. And it could be, and should be. Not even split screen multiplayer? Another problem with this game is that the throw back to the 80s style of developing games goes as far as the niggling bugs that are always present. It’s hard to gauge where you are against your enemies, and often when a wave comes you’re moving too slowly to attack everyone around you.
Don’t get me wrong, this aren’t glaring issues as much as they’re foibles. You can live with the few bugs in order to enjoy the overall experience of the game. A game, which might deservedly be described as better then the movie (though we won’t know that until the end of the week).
Saw it last. Spoiler * its brilliant, especially the soundtrack. Saying that, Its not my favorite movie or anything but its a very unique cinema experience and deserves to do very well imo.