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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Score: 50%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Apus Software
Developer: High Voltage Software
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action/ Puzzle

Graphics & Sound:

Big summer movies mean games based on these movies. Sometimes the movies translate well into games, while others are generic games with the movie's plot shoehorned in. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fits into the latter of these two types, but at least tries to replace the generic gameplay with an interesting premise. The results aren't what they could have been.

The game’s look certainly fits the overall look of the movie, so fans of Tim Burton’s visual style should actually be quite pleased with what they see. All of the character models are based off of the characters from the movie, except for Wonka himself. But even Wonka looks enough like Johnny Depp’s version of the character that it feels right.

Each area of the factory looks like a spot-on representation of what is seen in the movie. A few areas have obviously been altered to fit the gameplay, but that’s understandable. You’ll also get a chance to see a few parts of the factory that aren’t in the movie, which is also a nice bonus.

Audio is the game’s strongest aspect. As with likenesses, all of the characters from the movie provide voices for the game except for Johnny Depp. And, once again, the sound-a-like does a great job at replicating Depp’s version of the character. Many of the movie’s familiar lines are present, as are some newly recorded ones. The only thing really missing is the Oompas’ musical numbers, which I really expected to see considering most of the gameplay revolves around them (and yes, I did contemplate writing the entire review in an Oompa-versed format).


Gameplay:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory doesn't follow the plot of the book or movie. Instead of guiding Charlie through Wonka's factory, you (as Charlie) follow up the other four children and clean up their mess. I wasn't as bothered by the setup as I thought I would be, but at the same time, it never felt completely right. Maybe if it were after the tour or something... anyway. So, you'll find yourself going through scenarios from the movie and fixing them. For example, you'll have to get Augustus Gloop out of the tubes after falling into the chocolate river, or make sure Veruca doesn't reach the incinerator. To aid in your task, Wonka loans you the use of the Oompa Loompas, which makes up the game's main concept.

Charlie can command up to six Oopas at a time, each with their own job types. In addition to your standard workers, you'll have harvesters who can pluck candy from trees, welders who can repair leaks, or electricians. During the first few levels, the concept is novel. The novelty doesn't last long and you soon find yourself performing the same repetitive tasks multiple times until they all begin to blend into each other. In addition, jobs go on longer than they need to, which ends up hurting the experience in the long run.

Herding around Oompas is only part of the game. As Charlie, you'll also have to perform some minor platforming. These segments break up the tedious management of cloned midgets, but aren't that fun. The design of these segments isn't the best, and sloppy controls only hurt the experience. During these segments, Charlie can use various candy types to reach new areas. Charlie's main weapon is his supply of Everlasting Gobstoppers, but he can also use Fizzy Lifting Drinks and Jellybeans.


Difficulty:

Since the game is aimed towards kids, you would at least expect it to be a little easier than it is. Once again, the initial concept is great; it just doesn't work in practice. Level design is very sloppy and usually boils down to little more than busywork. To make matters worse, all of the tasks come with a minimum of instructions. During the initial levels, tasks are easy enough that you can figure out what to do. You will, however, become lost at some point in the game before long and wonder what you're supposed to be doing.

Game Mechanics:

The controls aren't always the most responsive either, so even when you know what to do, there's no guarantee it'll be an easy shot. Some actions require multiple presses before going through. Usually this isn't that great of a problem since you can't actually die after missing a jump, but the backtracking that usually follows does get annoying. It’s also very easy to become stuck between objects. During my playtime, I became stuck between two objects at least five times and had to restart my Xbox.

Commanding your army of Oompas is very easy. Each direction on the D-pad is assigned to a different action that the Oompas will be more than happy to perform -- provided they can find what they're supposed to do. Most times Oompas will go straight to work once you give them a command. Other times they'll become stuck on some part of the level (I noticed particular problems while trying to navigate the edges of ramps) or become completely turned around and never get to work. Really, this issue could have been easily fixed by giving you the option to control Oompas individually, but apparently that would have been too complicated...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may not be a good game, but there is potential somewhere under all of the technical miscues and sloppy design. If only that potential had been allowed to flourish a little more, the game could have been more like a trip to a candy factory rather than a trip to the dentist.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

Sony PlayStation 2 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana Nintendo GameBoy Advance Disney\'s Herbie: Fully Loaded

 
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