Family Guy

When the Family Guy first debuted several years ago it became one of my favorite shows with its wild sense of humor and outlandish situations that befall Quahogs favorite family. I was really disappointed when it was canceled several years ago, but still enjoyed the reruns that were put on Cartoon Network. Last year something happened that had never happened before, Family Guy came back with a second chance of life, and I was really happy. Due to its popularity it was only a matter of time before a game would be released that contains everything that makes the show so popular.

The game lets players take control of three of the more popular characters: Peter, Stewie, and Brian. Each of the three characters plays completely different from one another, and as you go through the game you will find out that all of the stories are interwoven together to complete one nice story. Peter's missions are more action based objectives, in other words he is the brawler of the group that uses brute force to get the job done. If you look at the screen when he is playing he will have a snack meter and when it is full you can do various super moves to help get your goals accomplished quicker.

Stewie’s missions are the most fun that you will have in this game. His game play is defined as more platforming and shooting. Below his health bar you will find that it has a counter for the ray gun components that you collect. The more that you collect the better upgrades you can get for your gun. Stewie can also use his mind control device to get people to do his bidding for him or do things that his small body can’t do such as open a door. Last but not least there are the missions that Brian takes on which proves to be the biggest disappointment in the game. His missions are all based around stealth and the problem with this is that with all of the improvements in this genre, the developers went with very old gameplay mechanics that prove to be a snore fest for gamers.

There is one more gameplay element in the Family Guy, and it is mini games that are non sequiturs that appears just like on the TV show. What happens is that someone will make some obscure comment and then you are presented with a completely new screen. You must then perform certain tasks as pressing buttons at a certain time or even shooting some targets. The problem with this is unlike the show; these non sequiturs moments are really obscure and have nothing to do with what is going on. It just feels that the developers just tacked these on at the last moment hopping that players will draw the connection since something similar happens during various episodes.

The graphics for this game are decent, but don’t really try to go above and beyond the call of duty. It is nice that the developers were able to closely mimic the look and feel of the television show using the cell shaded graphics. The level of detail on the main characters is also really nice. The animation is not as high quality as the show, but that is to be understood in a game like this. The main problem that I have with this game is the camera is not that fluid and sometimes proves to be a hindrance to you, such as hard to spot enemies or even trouble locking on to specific places.

One thing that the game has going for it is that it has the writers of the television show providing the game’s entire dialog which really helps out. The story for this game is as outlandish as any of the episodes that you might have seen. The voice actors from the show provide the voices for the game so it makes it seem more like an episode of the show. The music and sound effects also fit in nicely.

Family Guy is rated Mature for mature humor, partial nudity, and violence.

Gameplay: 5.2
The gameplay is pretty much bland, boring, and to be frank they are frustrating.

Graphics: 7.9
The graphics for the Family Guy give players the same look and feel that is on the show. The problem is that the camera is not that good and causes problems such as hard to detect enemies.

Sound: 8.5
Thankfully the game uses the same voice actors that are in the television show so it makes it really easy to listen to. The music for this game also compliments how it is on the show.

Difficulty: Easy
If you continue to play this game you will find out that all of the missions are really easy and do not present that much of a challenge.

Concept: 5.0
This game really doesn’t add anything new to any genre. In fact it takes a giant step backwards.

Overall: 5.3
It is sad that Family Guy isn't a better game. It feels rushed and not fine tuned to make it really shine.