Planet 51: The Game Reviews
PS3 Version Review
So let me put this into perspective; Planet 51 is an animated, feature-film that was released November 2009. The story revolves around a human astronaut called Chuck landing on Planet 51 only to discover that apart from slight appearance differences, Planet 51 is almost identical to Earth. When Chuck is wanted for capture by the Planet 51 army (believing he is an alien), he befriends Lem; a high-school loser who is obsessed with astronomy. Lem eventually agrees to help Chuck get back to his spacecraft and leave the planet. The film has been absolutely slated by the critics. Rotten Tomatoes has calculated that 22% of 53 reviews gave the film a positive write-up. This averages out at 4.1/10. The film also cost a staggering $70 million to make and has only grossed $37 million in the United States alone. Basically, Planet 51 is an absolute load of rubbish.
Like many animated films aimed at kids, Planet 51 has a video game to compliment it. Sega decided to pick this one up and it’s been developed by Pyro Studios (best known for the Commandos games) for X-Box 360, PS3 and Wii and Firebrand Games who have worked on a large amount of racers for the DS. Being stuck as a movie-game usually means one thing; cheap, cash-in. Movie-games are synonymous with being rushed through development just so the kids have something simple to play which compliments whatever blockbuster it features. Seeing as Planet 51 has proven to be a giant flop you can imagine the game is equally underwhelming. You’d be right.
There’s no beating around the bush here; Planet 51 The Game is a right old pile of whatsit. But, as you probably expected, all movie-games are. I challenge you to name a movie-game that was released this decade that was any good. It’s harder than you think. But never-the-less, Planet 51 is rather unique and interesting in its’ own, demented way.
To begin with, Planet 51 is a sandbox game; a Grand Theft Auto clone if-you-will. In fact, it’s very similar to Grand Theft Auto which makes you wonder what on Earth the developers were thinking with going down this route. Surely linear platformer would have been the obvious choice. Never mind. The bulk of the game is all about driving. Whether it’s bicycles, motorbikes, cars, pick-ups and military vehicles; there’s a shed-load of driving to be done in Planet 51 (ooh that rhymes). Just be warned that other than cosmetic differences, most vehicles handle the same.
But why is there so much driving I hear you ask. Well I don’t know really. It’s never really explained why you need to be in a vehicle for everything but I assume it’s generally the fastest way to do anything (apart from using the bicycles, you‘re better off walking). The game’s main missions progress by following the map to the next destination. The main missions vary from racing other characters, controlling a small robot called Rover stealthily avoid the military, entering destruction derby’s and some really dull stuff like fetch-missions, parking cars as a valet, mowing the lawn, cleaning a circus using an industrial vacuum and delivering papers. These horrible excuses for missions also act as side-quests for you to complete later on. Why anybody would want to come back to them is beyond me as they’re as boring as they are in real life. The less said about these monotonous, repetitive excuses for gaming the better.
It’s safe to say the only real enjoyment you’ll get are from the destruction derby’s and the races. The races are the game’s real highlight. They usually see you trying to prove yourself against Lem’s bully, Vorde. There are some escape missions which play out very similarly except you race against the time instead of a rival. These are generally pretty fun and the handling of the vehicles brilliantly compliments it. All vehicles are very responsive and simple to control. If they get damaged you can instantly repair them by hovering over a repairing zone; simple. However, it would be nicer if there was a damage indicator to tell you how wrecked your car is. The only way to tell is to watch the body (yes, there’s a damage model) and look for smoke. The destruction derby’s play similarly to the races (what with you being in a car) except you have to shunt your rivals vehicles until they break and can no longer participate. Boosting makes this a lot easier to do but unfortunately all the vehicles have quite a wide (and slow) turning circle which means these missions can last a little too long as you struggle to turn around and recover from being shunted yourself.
Graphically, Planet 51 is adequate. However, it really feels very last-gen and I can imagine there are very little differences between the PS3 version and the Wii version for instance. The real eye-sore comes from the character animations. They’re horrendously stiff and wooden, like watching a puppet show.
Speaking of wooden performances, the voice-acting is absolutely terrible. Everyone sounds very bland and uninterested and most of the dialogue sounds pieced together. This makes the plot (or what little there is of it) quite difficult to follow as you get some really nonsense sentences. Certain phrases get repeated quite a lot as they are programmed to initiate with certain actions. If we have to hear Lem say “I need speed!” every time we press the boost button we might just shoot ourselves. It’s pretty funny when you first hear it though. Who would have thought a kids game would promote drug use? Joking.
The sound department generally has a rough time in Planet 51. Music rarely shows its’ head making the game feel very empty and quite eerie in places. Music mainly shows up for the game’s set-pieces and even then there’s hardly anything to write home about.
There are some nice touches though. The open world gameplay is very unique and the gameworld is very well realised. There’s a lot of detail to it and it generally feels ‘lived-in’. Vehicles and pedestrians can be seen often which helps the atmosphere a lot. But it’s all futile as the general experience is a tedious, simple and repetitive drudge. The PS3 version of Planet 51 The Game gets:
3/10
DS Version Review
The DS version also does a very good job of packing everything you see in the PS3 version and manages to cut some of the excess fat off the original version. It is clearly based on the PS3 and 360 versions as cut-scenes are literally screenshots from them with added subtitles. This way you don’t have to suffer through wooden, uninterested performances.
The gameworld and all the vehicles also make it to the DS completely intact. It’s an incredible feat for a console that is essentially as powerful as a Playstation. Exploring the gameworld has a lot more urgency to it as the vehicles are slightly more responsive and the boost works a lot quicker. You rarely feel like you’re just dossing about in the DS version which is a feeling you get far too often in the PS3 version.
The DS version also runs in a much higher framerate which is mainly 50 fps but can raise to 60 fps in certain circumstances. It gives the game a little more polish and gives the game a much better presentation than its’ next-gen brethren.
Sound is a lot better on the DS as the cars allow you to tune into different radio stations as you drive. It’s not much but it successfully gives the game a better atmosphere than the PS3 version. Cars also have a damage meter as well which is most welcome.
The only other feature worth mentioning is some touch controls have been tacked on. The most obvious one is the ability to touch the screen to throw the newspapers when you play the paper-boy side quests. They’re all as unimaginative as the others and add nothing to the gameplay experience.
Besides a little extra polish and the amazement that a gameworld this size can fit on the DS, this version is no more boring than the PS3 version. Fair play to Firebrand Games for their incredible feat of delivering the same experience for the DS but it’s still an experience you’d rather you weren’t around for. The DS version of Planet 51 The Game gets
4/10
Written by Sonic Yoda on 16/12/2009
DS Cover, Instruction Manual and Cartridge Scans
PS3 Screenshots
DS Screenshots
