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TMNT - Hands On Mini Preview
Jon Wilcox
09/03/2007
TVG joins the heroes in a half-shell as they make a return to New York's sewers, and to the silver screen...
You know you're old when names from days gone by make a return. Transformers, Take That, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; all are making a return to the public's gaze after taking long-term hiatuses. But whilst we'll have to wait before we get to grips with the Transformers videogame (currently in development for Activision), and hope to never ever see a Take That: The Videogame, it's not long before those heroes in a half-shell make their return to both the cinematic and gaming flock in a few weeks time.
Wresting the TMNT license from Konami, who've done a pretty poor job on re-creating the world of the Ninja Turtles on consoles in recent years, it's up to Ubisoft's near-illustrious Montreal studio to adapt the forthcoming CGI feature for a multi-platform release. With nunchucks, bo staffs, swords, and sai at the ready (not to mention plenty of pizza...without anchovies of course), TVG headed down to the sewers to get hands on with the anthropomorphic amphibians...
Cowabunga dude!
Set after the defeat of Shredder at the end of the first feature film 17 years ago, it seems that all is not well with the green-skinned heroes. Donatello is left tinkering with his gadgets, Raphael has become a samurai-armoured dark knight called the Night Watcher, Michaelangelo performs at kid parties dressed as a turtle, and Leonardo...is on a spiritual path of enlightenment in the jungles of South America. It's with the blue-bandana'd one that TMNT begins, a tutorial that demonstrates the differences in how Konami and Ubisoft have approached the license. As TMNT is developed by the studio behind the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy, it won't come as a surprise that the game will be featuring fluid animation and the sort of acrobatics last seen in the Olympics. Scaling and running across walls from the depth of South America to the skyscrapers of New York City is all in a days work for the turtles, but first impressions are that Ubisoft Montreal has managed to surpass the gymnastics of the Prince.
Working together as a gang of four, swapping between each of the turtles in a similar fashion to Wonder Woman (we kid you not), the development team have tried to implement some sort of teamwork dynamic between the characters. Adding each of the turtles to the team by successfully completing the acrobatics needed to progress through the levels, players will then be able to utilise the combined 'tag team' moves against the waves of enemy encounters that litter the missions. Beyond a one-button weapon-based combat system, the Turtles can also perform a set of kicks and fast-paced attacks that will deftly deal with most of the enemies (be they Foot Soldiers or street thugs) along the way. Each of the Turtles also has its own unique ability, such as Michaelangelo's helicopter-like nunchuk ability, and Raphael's wall-climbing (thanks to his Sai), though it's pretty obvious when each of the skills should be used.
Toxic Ooze
For all of the expectations surrounding the game, namely the appointment of having such a successful and highly regarded studio such as Ubisoft Montreal bringing the turtles experience to the consoles, there are obvious signs that TMNT won't reach its potential. One concern is the apparent lack of a two- to four-player mode, which would have undoubtedly harked back to the 1989 classic arcade title that'll be making a return via Xbox Live by the end of the month. Instead, it's a real shame, but for all the teamwork between the turtles in the game, playing TMNT is a one-gamer show...unless you're playing on the handheld platforms, in which case, Ubisoft is promising special multiplayer elements.
Elsewhere, and it seems that the game will follow a very generic and (dare we even say it at this point) patronising experience, even for young gamers who are no doubt the main audience of TMNT. Ubi's Prince of Persia series has been successful for not only fluid combat, but also the acrobatic skills of the main character and the way they're used to solve the environmental puzzles throughout the trilogy. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it seems that the acrobatics are used solely as a means to travel through a level devoid of any challenge, just to get to the inevitable 'Point B'. Also, for an adaptation of a movie, it does seem that there's very little storyline to speak of - even in other adaptations, gameplay may be less than original, but at least the cut-scenes follow the events of the movie itself...this doesn't seem to be the case here.
There's also a cause for concern over the likely longevity of the title, with the inclusion of sixteen Challenge Maps that will unlock according to a player's performance in a level (graded into the time it took to complete the mission, the amount of brotherhood points build up, and the amount of coins collected). The TMNT equivalent of Metal Gear Solid's VR Missions, the timed challenges offer players a small variety of gameplay from simple point-to-point races to multi-wave battles with Foot Soldiers.
Konami's dour efforts in recent years may just be matched when Ubi's TMNT is released on multiple platforms in the next few weeks. Despite the prominent studio working on the licence, there are warning signs that the game could suffer from the same level of bland gameplay that dragged EA's Superman Returns to the dire depths of turgidity. Hopefully, TMNT just shows how much Montreal is focusing on Assassin's Creed and the next-gen Prince of Persia.
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 28th Mar 2007 20:01
GOLDO
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