Oh, how good this game could have been if they waited a little longer and worked on it a bit more.
Now, the game that I am reviewing today is a rather twisted and morbid game known as Naughty Bear.
Now, Naughty Bear is a rather interesting game. It is a mix of arcade, stealth, and action. The arcade part is due to the point system, Stealth due to the, well, stealth elements of the game, and action for all the butt-kicking you are bound to do once everyone knows you are in the area.
Now, normally, I would have gotten to explaining the story by now, but after careful examination, I had discovered a rather funny thing about the game...
... There is pretty much none whatsoever.
Yes, none. Nada. Zip. Sure, according to the box and the booklet, it said that the story was about Naughty wanting revenge after not being invited to a party. Yet, the funny thing is, that's only applies to the first chapter. After that, you move on to a completely NEW story, and the last one is forgotten. Every chapter (7 in all, just so you know) seems to have its own story. So, when you think about it, these chapters are more like episodes of the naughty adventures of Naughty, rather than a bunch of connecting chapters that tell a story of revenge.
So yeah. Not much of a story.
Anyways, once you start the game, you first have to pick which chapter and mission you want to do. At first, you only have one chapter out of seven, and one mission out of five. Of course, after your first go, you are bound to have new missions to do and chapters to play.
Of course, that's only if you play good. If you can't get silver or higher, don't expect to get very far in the game. Yes, this game uses a special trophy system that will only let you ADVANCE the "story" if you get at least silver or higher "cups", as they are called, while you play. Now, I can understand having players try to get high ranking cups in order to unlock special do-dads and such, but the fact that you have to get a certain number of certain cups in order to simply advance to the next chapter rather than simply completing the previous one is a little bit harsh in a certain way. But oh well, it isn't that much of a deal, really... Unless you are a terrible gamer.
Once you select your mission and your outfit (more on that later), and after you watch the mission intro giving you the lowdown on what's going on and what to do, you take your first steps into the world of Naughty Bear.
Graphics wise, it's pretty ok, although there are some flaws. For instance, take loading an area. When you move to the next zone during a mission, you will notice that the area takes a moment or two in order to load everything, from placing other bears, to the items, and other things. This really noticeable flaw really has a way of making the game look rather... amateurish, I guess?
The game also has some FPS issues as well sometimes. Most of the time, it's minor and fine. But in some cases, it really slows down the game.
Control wise, it works ok as well. But like the graphics, it has some flaws. In this game, you are bound to be rushing around back and forth, and will really need to get things done fast. This is where a control flaw comes in: Interacting with objects and bears requires you to wait a second before doing the action. Want to burn a gift? Stand in front of the fire for a sec and THEN toss it in. Want to scare a bear in a bear trap? Wait a sec and THEN scare him. Pressing the button the game asks you to press in order to do the action you want too fast will not really do what you want it to do a lot of the time. This flaw at times could be very costly in some missions.
Sound wise, it's pretty good. And the music in some chapters is nice (in truth, nothing much to say about it)
And then there is gameplay. I would discuss voice acting, but really, besides the British guy who speaks to you off screen and makes lame puns whenever you use finishing moves on people, the voice acting is nothing but silly gibberish, kinda like The Sims.
Gameplay in Naughty Bear is really quite interesting. In each zone during a mission, your main goal most of the time is to earn a certain amount of points before you can move to the next zone. Thankfully, it's quite easy to get to the next zone. The real challenge is trying to earn as MANY points as you can to get the best ranking in a mission as you can. And thankfully, there are many ways to make points. You just have to find them. And of course, with so many ways to do your "naughty deeds", you can expect to do quite a bit of experimenting.
One of these ways to earn points is through using stealth tactics. Stealth is pretty easy in a lot of cases as long as you stick to the woods, which is all over the place. For some reason, most bears tend to not bother checking the woods, even if sounds come from it. This makes stealth a simple task, until you are forced to go out and try to set a trap. Then it is a little tougher, requiring you to go slow and steady and quietly do what needs to be done, such as planting a trap or damaging something, hoping a sucker will see it and try to fix it, giving you a shot at taking him out or scaring him.
Of course, it isn't long until stealth goes out the window and you find yourself in hot water. Then it's time to kick some fluff.
With so many weapons, from Uzis to hand-axes to sticks, each with different stats in different areas (Speed, power, range), you can expect to have a lot of fun trying them all out. There is also a finishing move for each weapon, some really sick, others rather funny.
Alas, as many nice things there are, I don't want to babble on about the good stuff, so I may as well move on to the flaws with gameplay, starting with its AI.
Now, this flaw is a really noticeable one. The AI in the game is, a lot of times, STUPID. Remember what I said about the woods? Well, funny thing is, even if a bear SEES you going into the woods and chases you, he won't DARE step foot into it, acting as if he lost you. Some bears will give chase into the woods, though, but most of them don't.
They are also pretty easy to fight a lot of the time. Mashing the attack button as you fight bears will make it a pretty easy fight, them hardly able to fight back as you beat their fluffy butt all the way to Sunday. If a bear has a gun, on the other hand, you better be careful... Unless you have a Uzi and you are hiding in the woods, then you can easily pick them off without them shooting back (unless it's a B.E.A.R. In that case, you better run).
Ohh, how much I have to say about AI...
Besides the AI stupidity, there is also another problem with the gameplay: Repetition.
From seeing the same finishing move over and over again due to how each weapon only has one finisher, to creeping around the same areas, the game's biggest flaw of them all is how you are bound to do the same things over, and over, and over, and OVER again. Sure, the game does spice things up a bit by adding new bear types, placing different weapons in the area depending on the mission, as well as placing some old interactive objects in different places as well as adding new ones. The game also changes the theme of the zones as well depending on the chapter, from a party theme, to an army theme, and much more. And let's not forget the challenge missions also, which asks you to do certain things, such as not being seen more than 4 times. But alas, as hard as it tries to keep things interesting, after a while, it's bound to feel repetitive.
Even having different outfits to choose from before a mission, each one enhancing your skills in certain fields as well as giving you helpful abilities and weapons doesn't add much to the replay value of the game. No matter what they do to spice it up, it's always bound to feel repetitive after playing it for so long.
A shame, too, since this game has so much potential to be a great game. If only they worked on it more, they could have had a real enjoyable game.
So, to sum it up...
Naughty Bear is a really interesting game that could be worth at LEAST a rental. I admit that I enjoy scaring bears to insanity and causing havoc all over the island. But alas, as fun as it is, it would be much better if only they worked out the bugs, fixed a few things, improved the AI, and made it less repetitive.
And so, I end another review. I hope that this helps you next time you go shopping for a new game.