The Mouse Did It.

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Like Clue, but hate the competition? More of a Watson than a Holmes? In either case, Disney’s Guilty Party may be just what you’re looking for.

Guilty Party is an out-and-out fun game. Or, rather, it was one of the few games I played during E3 where I busted out laughing and felt actively engaged at all times. Not bad for a show where motion-controlled games were all the rage.

Guilty Party is a Wii-exclusive mystery game where you, and a group of friends, take part in solving a series of crimes. Gameplay is split between Story and Party Modes. In Story, you’ll play as members of the Dicken’s family, you’ll have to solve crimes related to the dastardly Mr. Valentine. The concept is similar to Clue, though you’ll have to actively take part in investigations by searching for clues and interrogating witnesses. Though you’ll spend a few minutes talking to witnesses, most of your investigation will revolve around completing mini-games.

During our hands-on session, we participated in a few of the 50 mini-games available. In one, I had to use the controller as a saxophone and play along with notes as they scrolled along the bottom of the screen in order to tortu…errr… encourage a rock star to tell me what he knew. In another game, my partner had to place money in a starlet’s hand and bribe a confession out of her.

Though Guilty Party can be played solo, it’s more fun when played either co-op or competitively with a group. In co-op, players take turns solving pieces of the mystery. Between turns, they’ll team up to complete special mini-games put into play by Mr. Valentine. In our play through, Mr. Valentine set a set of boxes on fire. One player had to shift the boxes around the room while the other used a hose to put them out.

Competitive mysteries are similar, except you’re trying to solve the mystery first. To help foster competitive play, each player gets a chance to play as Mr. Valentine between turns and hold up another player’s progress. You can set up traps, lock rooms or even scare away witnesses.

The goal in all modes is to find enough clues to fill out a profile card. Every clue and confession will point to a new trait, though figuring out the culprit is tricky. Based on clues, we pegged one suspect from the start, only to find out it wasn’t him. As you discover clues, they’ll show up in your notebook. Using your lie detector, you can scan over the clues to determine which are true.

Difficulty is based on two factors. One determines the difficulty of mini-games, while another separate setting sets the game’s length. Long games mean more clues, more witnesses and even a few red herrings.

Guilty Party has just the right amount of quirk and interesting gameplay to put it on top my list of anticipated games. Based on an early look, this should be another great game to play with the family.

STAT BOX
Product
Guilty Party
Company
Disney Interactive
Date
06/22/2010