Bratz: Girlz Really Rock
Score: 40% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: THQ Developer: Blitz Games Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Rhythm/ Family/ Themed
Graphics & Sound: Think of Bratz: Girlz Really Rock as an interactive toy and you'll be able to overlook its many flaws. The biggest issue is the generally poor appearance. Sure, the characters look like the toys, but it would have been nice to see them made a bit more attractive. At least they could have spent more time designing the various elements of the game... Girlz Really Rock manages to make the Wii graphics look worse than they need to; this is a game that would not look out of place on the Gamecube, maybe even on the N64. If the developers were going for a retro look, they sure hit the mark. More likely, this was pushed out of the chute without a huge amount of concern for graphic sophistication, knowing that girls in love with their Bratz dolls and last years Bratz: The Movie would jump at the chance to play as their favorite characters. The setting for Bratz: Girlz Really Rock is a camp, so you'll see plenty of rustic cabins and outdoor vistas in addition to other characters loitering around waiting for some interaction. The NPC and character voices are actually funny, sometimes in an obvious way and sometimes unintentionally, we suspect. After the initial movie that introduces Girlz Really Rock, we didn't see much of an attempt to create anything like a slick package in terms of cut-scene animation or movies. Each girl packs a PDA-style device that takes and makes calls, along with the ability to snap photos as you wander around camp. This is one of the cooler features in the game's design, and taking good shots allows you to earn points for your prowess as a photographer during the fashion mini-game. Lots of little collectibles and extras are included in the game, but before you can enjoy these, you'll have to bring a high tolerance for some very repetitive gameplay. I'd like to believe that girls aren't less sophisticated or intelligent than boys, which runs contrary to some assumptions that this girl-focused game seems to be making. There are some neat ideas under the surface, but almost none of them are well implemented. Even the music, which should be a big focus of a game that carries a major storyline dealing with the Bratz attempt to rock out and win the camp's music contest, leaves much to be desired. We all know from playing music games in various forms that the variety of the music plays a role. Just jamming to the same tune in Rock Band gets old after a bit, which is why downloadable content is all the rage. Girlz Really Rock includes a few snappy tunes, but mostly rehashes content and forces players to put songs together piece by piece. Reading the back of the box, you might assume that the musical mini-games will actually have something unique in them, like learning to play an instrument. Instead we find a watered-down music game that only requires you to press buttons in sequences, along a timeline. It's a poor man's Rock Band to be sure...
Gameplay: The premise of Bratz: Girlz Really Rock is that Cloe, Jade, Sasha, and Yasmin head off to camp, expecting a good time with friends, but not much more. After hearing about a camp contest that could make them stars in a new movie by a hot director, they set about their plans for camp domination. The idea of making friends and interacting with lots of familiar characters from the toy line plays throughout Girlz Really Rock. The persistent themes are fashion and music, which sounds promising. Music games are all the rage, after all, and any gamer worth her salt has taken some time to dress up an avatar or three. There is an interpretation of Girlz Really Rock that says it will be great fun for girls that already love to play with their Bratz dolls. The problem comes in trying to evaluate this as a game for Wii. It's not a pretty game, and the controls are often clunky and frustrating. The few mini-games available are repetitive, but then again they feature lots of music that fans will enjoy. The non-music mini-games include some mini-golf, clothing design, and a skydiving game. Multiplayer factors into things as players have the chance to open up mini-games to their friends and compete for points. Bratz fans may just be in Bratz heaven, but only if they haven't played many other games on the Wii... Moving around Camp Starshine is how you'll interact with characters and discover new games. Your base of operations is also where you'll be able to switch between the different girls. Each new mini-game area includes a handy dressing room, make-up table, and hair station. No Bratz with any taste would be caught playing golf without proper attire, you know? The costumes available expand as you play, plus you can use your skills as a fashion designer to create the kind of clothes you want to wear. This mini-game includes a posing station where you take pictures of your character modeling her new clothes. Scoring points in these games is the main way to move the story forward, and how you'll open up other challenges. Music and dancing both are built as rhythm games where you'll tap buttons to the beat in order to score points. Skydiving is a more action-oriented game that has you hold the Wii-mote sideways and rotate it front-to-back or tilt it to move your skydiving girl around through targets. The golf game is a very watered-down version that doesn't offer much more than the ability to aim your shot and choose a power level. Imagine Wii Sports on Quaaludes and you'll get the idea. Everything about Girlz Really Rock is stale, rehashed, and poorly implemented. Saying that it isn't really supposed to be judged as a game as much as an interactive toy misses the point that it IS a game and every genre represented here falls short of expectations. The expectations' game is a funny thing, because for Bratz fans eager to slip into the virtual personas of Cloe, Jade, Sasha, or Yasmin, this may be perfect.
Difficulty: There is a nice, "nobody loses" approach taken in Bratz: Girlz Really Rock. Gotta give it to the developers for making a game that kids really can sink their teeth into. The method for learning new songs and dances, for instance, is to first master the pieces before putting together an entire routine. This recognizes that everyone needs repetition to learn, and that kids don't have as much ability to maintain focus over a long stretch or lack the coordination to pull off long routines. Offering bite-sized routines that kids can practice and commit to memory is a smart move. Not making a big deal out of points is also a good idea. The feeling one gets playing Girlz Really Rock is that the journey is more important than the destination. This may also be due to the fact that there are a very limited number of mini-games available, which makes repetition a necessary evil in order to move the story forward. The hardest things about Bratz: Girlz Really Rock are poor controls and a very unintuitive goal system.
Game Mechanics: The first sign that the controls might not be incredibly tight within Bratz: Girlz Really Rock appears within the game's first mini-game, a little episode of skydiving. You chalk this up to that fact that skydiving control must be a slippery thing, what with you being buffeted by winds as you drop from hundreds of feet up in the air... Once you get on the ground, you find that controls there are equally slippery. Moving the Wii-mote side-to-side is how you'll direct your girl to move around, coupled with the (B) button for walking. The use of motion for the camera is fine, but not very precise when it comes to clicking on objects or characters for interaction. Luckily there is a very wide buffer around every object that only requires you to come within about 10 feet before being prompted to click and interact. The mini-game controls are kept simple by comparison. Rhythm games involve only clicking, no motion required. The golf game uses the orientation of your Wii-mote to charge the shot, and a quick flick along with a button press is all you need to launch the ball. There's no way to zoom in on the action as you set up your shot, only a way to view the entire course from a bird's eye view. This isn't extremely helpful in figuring out the angle of the shot, but you'll still manage to get the ball in the hole most times with some diligence because the courses aren't that complex. Playing the dress-up games or the fashion mini-game is more like a straight point-and-click, largely copying the Mii building tools all Wii owners learn to love. If only Bratz: Girlz Really Rock did as good a job implementing their avatar system. Painting on blush, lipstick, and eyeliner is about as precise as putting paint on a wall with a mop... Seeing it all come alive on screen will no doubt thrill some girls that can't get enough of their Bratz play, but what happened to creating a quality product? Games like this give licensed product the reputation it deserves, driven as they are by marketing departments and brand managers rather than developers. Franchises like Bratz make money by plastering their brand on everything from shoes to shirts to sneakers to fast food. Games are a casualty of the licensing and branding world, but that's coming from a gamer's perspective. If you are the parent of a young girl enamored with the Bratz, you may find this on your shopping list for the holidays, whether it's a good game or not.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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