Its Naughty Time!

User Rating: 6.5 | Naughty Bear PS3
Every year, a game comes along that is unbelievably atrocious, so utterly bad that it stands out for all the wrong reasons. Last year 'Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust' won this dubious award; the previous year had 'Turning Point: Fall of Liberty'. And 2010's is apparently Naughty Bear. Many review sites have ripped this game a new one, IGN in particular giving it an embarrassing 2.5 out of 10. It's no classic, and can be a limited, bug ridden experience, but the mechanics are surprisingly solid. It's harder, and much more fun than expected.
Naughty Bear is a social outcast, living on Perfection Island. One day the other bears throw a party, and when Naughty tries to attend, they laugh him away. He decides to get even by going on a killing spree over 7 missions, which include Zombear outbreaks and Alien invasions. Each mission has 4 sub missions, with a different type of play required. For example, Untouchable tasks you with completing missions without taking a hit, while Insanity requires Naughty to drive every other bear insane.

The game is primarily score based and geared towards repeat play. A combo meter tracks kill chains, with higher scores for ultra kills/scares and varied use of weapons. Environmental moves can be performed on everyday objects like toilets, ovens and fridges. In addition, traps can be set to punish unsuspecting bears. High scores award bronze, silver, gold or platinum medals. In turn, these unlock costumes and disguises for Naughty to wear, which are better suited to certain game modes. The narrator introduces each section, and is reminiscent of a children's TV presenter. His cries of `Total De-Fluffication' and `Maximum Grillage' were amusing. He also proves a good indicator of Naughty's success, getting increasingly more excited as the points multiply. For example, he shouts `Nutter' once a Platinum cup has been achieved.

The main problems are the erratic camera, which can be manually adjusted. Frame-rate issues are the most obvious, with play dropping to around 15 FPS at times. Levels are very small, with only a handful of environments to explore. This does suit the scoring aspect, as large sprawling areas would have proved difficult to achieve high combos. Yet these levels are repeated throughout with only cosmetic changes, which is disappointing. The game also freezes, and forum posts confirm this is a common issue. The developers are promising a patch alongside free DLC. Once these technical issues have been rectified, Naughty Bear will be much more fun. Admittedly they should never have made the final code, but regardless, Naughty Bear deserves more credit. This is destined to be a cult hit.