For fans only. Play as Stewie, Peter and Brian (shooter, fighter, and stealth respectively). Quirky inaccurate controls.
You play as 3 of the characters, Stewie, Peter, and Brian, however, you don't get to choose which one you play at any given time. The game progresses, telling the unconnected stories of the 3 main characters. It switches to the next character when a level is completed. You cannot select one character and play his campaign all the way through. You don't get to replay any given campaign or level, neither during the game, not at the end.
There aren't as many "Family Guy Moments" as I would have liked. At the opening menu, press START and wait a few minutes. The main menu splash screen has several annimatic-gags to go through (Quagmire in the bushes, Meg gets hit with newspaper, Stewie tries to kill Lois, to name a few). It's worth watching, all the way through (until they start repeating) because there are so few like this in the game.
There are 18 "mini-games' to be unlocked. And when I say mini, I mean 30 second games. These 'non-sequiturs' are based on the cut-away gags from the TV series (e.g. Stewie and Hellen Keller playing Marco-Polo, Peter locking the keys 'outside' his car). Best one… "Blown Budget" : it's a stick figure on a piece of paper, push any button, you win.
Stewie's campaign consists of shooting and 'driving' type action. Stewie wants to take over the world, of course. The problem, Bertram wants to beat him to it. The mission, stop your evil half brother. Most of the shooting and driving, boating, flying happen within Peter's body. The controls aren't very accurate. Spaces that look easily jumped, can't be made and areas too far away, seem to be the easiest. Special power, mind control.
Peter's campaign is to rescue his childhood hero, Mr. Belvidier. Typical travel left-to-right fighter. After being hit on the head, Peter thinks Mr. Belvidier has been kidnapped and it's his duty to save him. Several Family Guy characters make cameo appearances, none that effect game play. Peter's special powers, eh, just some power attacks. Kill the Grannies, get cookie power ups, kill the Indian casino workers, get an ear of corn.
Brian's game is totally stealth, just sneaking around. Special ability is using costumes (cheerleader, etc.). The mission, Brian as been accused of violating Seabreeze, Carter Pewterschmidt's prize dog. Brian has to gather evidence to clear his name. Controls are quirky here as in Stewie's campaign. Areas you should be safe in, you get caught, and areas you should have been seen, you get past. Trial and error is the only way to know where these spots are. By far, Brian's game contains the most dialog. Be sure to stand around in the hiding zones and listen to the non-playable characters (several have a few comments each).
If you buy/rent/borrow/steal the game complete, the user manual has a 4 page, black and white preview of their graphic novel.
I was glad to have played it because I'm a huge Family Guy fan. I don't want to replay it though. Some of the mini-games are worth a laugh to replay (once maybe).
If they do another one… play as any character, anytime, with shorter campaigns; re-playable levels; more unlockables.