Latest Features
Gears Of War 2 - Cliff Bleszinski Q&AStar Wars: Clone Wars Q&AFable 2: The Molyneux InterviewTom Clancy's HAWX Q&AFootball Manager 2009 - Q&AUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for FuturamaWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
Futurama - Feature Feature
Derek dela Fuente
18/07/2003
TVG's roving reporter gets sent 1000 years into the future to check out the first Futurama videogame...
Coming to your console machine very soon!
Itâs only a matter of weeks until the release of this great looking game. Everyone who watches Sky TV will know that Futurama is the follow up to The Simpsons, both of which were created by Matt Groenig, the multi-Emmy award winning writer and designer. We spoke with Klaude Thomas, Producer at Swedish-based developer UDS, about the ins and outs of creating such a high profile game.
A lot of outside expertise has gone into the creation of Futurama the game and features a strong storyline written by Futurama scriptwriter, J. Stewart Burns. Matt Groening has also been heavily involved with the game from its conception. To add even more credibility, it will feature most of the original voice artists from all the major territories. A custom-made cartoon-rendering engine captures the visual look and feel of the Futurama TV series.
Futurama is a 3rd-person platform shooter, which combines the humour, character development and innovation of the highly popular, award winning TV Show, with platform game play and strategy with four playable characters: Fry, Bender, Leela and Dr Zoidberg, each with special moves to master, in 21 levels, both from the show and original environments, topped up with 3 boss levels, along with uniquely freakish enemies unique to Futurama, with teasing puzzles and secrets galore!
Futurama has many endearing qualities as were catalogued and highlighted by Klaude.
âThe UDS team has done a fantastic job of getting the feel of the Futurama series into a video game. I'd point to the look of the game first: both the in game programmatically achieved cel-shading-and-outlining, and the high-quality pre-rendered movies, are top-notch. Their scripting team was flexible with last minute changes to make sure the game wasn't too difficultâ¦or too easyâ¦and the programming team has managed to get the game's long vistas and gorgeous, complicated scenes to run well on both formats.â
âThe UDS team was also very committed to making Futurama a good game for players. One of my favourite sections (Run Bender Run) came about solely because their artists and programmers were determined to get it inâ¦and that sort of thing happened a lot during production - they'd see something they wanted to make work and then put in a lot of extra effort to make it happen."
"The game was designed to match the writer's ideas. You have to have a lot of respect for what are the masters of comedy at the Curiosity Company (Matt Groening's company) so if they suggested something the team tried to make it work in the game. The game was âfexedâaround their storylineâ¦when you play it I think you'll agree that workedâ¦that was the best way to do it."
Futurama begins when Professor Farnsworth sells Planet Express to the evil businesswoman Mom. She now owns over fifty percent of the Earth, making her the supreme ruler. Your goal is to prevent Mom from Universal domination by taking the Planet Express Crew back in time to stop the deal from going ahead and show her âwho's the daddyâ. Get it wrong and Bender's shiny metal arse is for the eternal scrap heap!
The terminally inept Fry, robo-porn reading Bender and feisty cyclops Leela must be guided through familiar scenes from the show: Planet Express, the Red Light District, New-New York, and a host of new environments. Nurture their unique skills (yes even Fry has them - he can shoot fat guns), master their power ups and complete their tasks to lead them to victory against Mom and her 'hover-bot death troopers'.
Klaude continued on Futurama's appeal that has captivated TV viewer.
"Itâs funnyâ¦and it makes you laugh. Appropriately enough Futurama takes off a wide range of sci-fi and real-world events. And then it matches them to a cast of characters made by the people who invented The Simpsons after they were done with The Simpsons. Futurama is genuinely funny - and sometimes baffling - you're laughing but you couldn't say just why exactly. I recommend the sequence with Zoidberg and the bottle (in 30 percent Iron Chef) as possibly the funniest 10 seconds in any cartoon series ever made."
Those not au fait with the cast should note that Fry is pretty slow (wits and footwork) but he has a gun, which is a good thing. In fact he gets a whole series of guns. Next up is Bender. If you've ever seen the Gender Bender episode you'll realise that he's a hand-to-hand fighting robot. Then there is Leela. She's a martial artist in the series, and in the game. Leela is brave and smart and has rolls and jumps to help her out. Finally, in a cameo section, is Dr Zoidberg.
Game-play is kept active and interesting all the way through because each character plays differently and it will take awhile to master them.
Having such a huge license does have its drawbacks, apart from the fact that anticipation is high and because of its licence the guidelines are very strict. One difference between Futurama and The Simpsons games is the degree of control Matt Groening had over the use of the licence. Futurama, the game creation, had to pass his approval at each stage - so the art is spot on and every element has been submitted for his scrutiny!
It needs to be pointed out that this game stands alone and you really do not have to have seen the TV series to enjoy this offering. The game takes you from the surface of the Sun to the Furthest Corner of the Universe. But most importantly, itâs been described as the Final Episodeâ¦and it is just that. Futurama gives you classic platform-adventure game-play and itâs not to be taken too seriously and the teamâs goal was to make Futurama funny and fun to play. The development team drew from all kinds of sources to make set pieces and a range of classic game-play that works - and the Futurama characters, script, and actors inject the humour. A whole gambit of gaming ideas is on offer so this can be billed as a real arcade feast! Fighting, shooting, flaming, kicking, puzzles and there are special attacks, naturally, and special sections. Plus there's collecting (hunt down all the Nibblers to unlock the entire set of movies - equal in length to a full episode of the TV series!).
If you fancy fighting your way through the futuristic streets of New-New York, and explore the dark and forbidding underground ruins of old New York or travel to the asteroid belt and battle huge robot monsters in an asteroid junkyard or even battle swamp monsters and alligators in the Bogad bayou at the very edge of the universe. Then check out Futurama, which has been receiving rave previews throughout its development cycle. Here we could have a game that is as good as the TV series.... letâs hope so!
