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Originals

Simpsons: Hit & Run

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Posted by: kombo

It’s great to finally be able to sit here and tell you that the latest foray into the Simpsons’ gaming universe is worth playing and an overall fun experience with Vivendi’s and Radical’s newest title The Simpsons: Hit & Run (H&R). With past attempts at developing Simpsons games being anything but pleasurable or memorable for gaming history (except for that one arcade game that came out circa early '90s), Simpsons fans finally have a licensed title they can be proud of and which finally thrusts this highly popular series on to the path of gaming glory. Not without some flaws, it is obvious that a sincere effort went in to creating H&R that would ultimately provide a fun experience for the player with familiar characters we have seen broadcasted on prime time TV for over more than a decade. Gameplay Basically GTAIII meets Springfield, but in a less violent and more humorous way. Players take charge of every Simpson family member except Maggie. And thrown in for good measure you get to play as Apu, your friendly Kwik-E-Mart owner and squishy purveyor extraordinaire. Each character has a set number of missions to accomplish within their “level,” and some bonus missions thrown in for extra oomph. You run the gamut from chasing and destroying other vehicles to being coerced into running errands for other fellow Springfieldians. Almost all missions have a time limit to be completed within. The game provides an excellent system of directing you where to go and who you have to meet for the next task, so you’ll never find yourself lost or wondering where to go next to continue the story. When you have completed a mission, or “task” as they are referred to in the game, you can either continue on to the next task or you can take some time to free-roam around Springfield and try to find extra goodies or compete in mini games such as racing against other characters like little Ralph Wiggum or the bully Nelson through the streets of Springfield. The only gripe some may find is that gameplay is rather simplistic and can sometimes feel a little repetitive with each character and their different missions. Basically you’ll find yourself performing similar tasks but with different objectives such as running down other cars and having to collect what they drop, or racing to reach a location before another character does. Just like in GTAIII you are able to jack cars right off of the good ol’ streets of Springfield. And what’s better, you don’t have to worry about the occasional cop driving by to catch you. All is not without repercussions, however. The game works on a meter system that gauges your “violence.” If your meter gets too high, it will start to flash and you’ll hear a warning siren to alert you that your hit and run meter is dangerously close to alerting the cops to your behavior. Every object and person you hit causes the meter to fill up some. Continue on with reckless behavior and you’ll trigger the “Hit and Run” mode. You get a warning on screen and you’ll hear sirens coming after you. If you get caught you’ll be fined for some of your coins and sent on your merry way. Successfully avoid the cops during this time and you’ll be forgotten eventually. There are no stars that gradually increase your wantedness in this game, nor are there any FBI agents in helicopters; but the cops of Springfield are pretty ruthless and fast, and will not hesitate to try and knock your vehicle out of commission. On the other hand, wanton damaging behavior is a necessity in the game since anything and everything you destroy, save for pedestrians, rewards you with a certain amount of coins. Coins are good and are needed to buy things in the game; primarily alternate costumes and other vehicles. Sometimes to complete a specific mission you will need a certain outfit or a certain vehicle. So don’t be stingy in spending your coins since hoarding and saving them pays no bonus in the end. Each character has their own vehicle they are most proficient at driving. As mentioned before you can steal any car you see in Springfield and each one has its own handling attributes. But it’s best to stick with the car your character is best at driving. There are also bonus vehicles available for purchase such as Grampa’s old WWII jeep. You get awarded this vehicle after you help collect bags of blood for Grampa. On a few missions some vehicles will serve you better than others. For instance, in missions where you need to destroy another vehicle you will need a vehicle that has a high “Toughness” rating so it can endure repeated battering; while if you’re going to street race it’s best to use a car with a high “Speed” and “Acceleration” rating. Your vehicles are not immune to damage or complete destruction, however, and they will incur cumulative damage over a period of time, especially if you are crashing into everything. Never fear as you can hastily repair any damage by finding and collecting wrenches scattered throughout the levels. So you’ll rarely find yourself running your car into the ground or having it blow up. Graphics H&R provides an immersive virtual world for the player to explore. Players will not have full access to the entirety of Springfield. Rather, each new character they play finds them in a different section of the city as well as at a different time of the day. The game does a wonderful job of reflecting the unique, cartoony visual flair that The Simpsons is famous for. The only problem I noticed were the apparent clipping issues that run rampant throughout the game. Coins become mysteriously lodged in walls, characters can sometimes walk right through parts of their vehicles, etc.; it just looks messy. Nothing that will hamper gameplay in the slightest, but a little more polish would have really made everything come together more “realistically.” The character models themselves are lively and rendered decently, and are reminiscent of that one and only episode that actually featured the Simpsons in full 3D. The lip synching is a bit off, but then that’s always been a tricky feature to nail accurately. Sound The sounds come alive in Springfield. From the simple traffic passing by running unknown errands, to one of Professor Frink’s bumbling inventions, everything has its place and is represented well. Each main character is voiced by the original actor/actress, as well as all secondary characters that we’ve come to know and love. The Comic Book Guy will sneer and chide you in his comic book shop while Professor Frink will spew his paranoid scientific jargon about Truck-O-Saurus having the potential to run amok. And all the main characters will throw out little quips and quotes and one-liners while navigating the streets of Springfield. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without that infamous theme we all know by heart. And throughout the game it is featured in various forms so as to not make it gratuitous. The script very much reflects any lines you would expect to hear from a normal episode, and this should not be surprising since Matt Groening was behind the helm in helping create the game. So there is no issue with authenticity. You are getting the real deal with “A+” episode quality acting and typical Simpsons humor. The plot line is pushed forward intermittently after each level is completed with CG cut scenes which bring together both the graphical and aural quality the game has to offer. Replay Value Although the game follows a linear path and is mission based, there is a fair amount of replay to be had. You can tackle the game the first time around and just play the missions to complete the game, then you can go back and take some time to explore and try to find and collect all the hidden trading cards strewn throughout each level, as well as going back to find all the hidden gags, purchase all the costumes and cars and destroy all the mechanical bees with hidden cameras. Or you can simply drive around and see how much havoc you can create while dodging the cops. So it all depends on how you want to approach the game. At the end of each level you get a stat screen that shows you various things like how many cards you collected, how many vehicles and costumes you purchased, how many hidden gags you found, how many mechanical bees you destroyed, etc. So there is quite a lot to accomplish in the game besides just completing the missions and beating the game. It proves to be enough that you will end up going back to try and complete everything. Overall H&R finally does The Simpsons license justice. It may have had to rely on a formula that some may argue has already had its time in the limelight, but it is a formula that is applied well to this series. Everything you know and love about The Simpsons is represented here. If you’ve been patiently awaiting a good Simpsons game, your wait is over. If you ever felt cheated in the past from purchasing a Simpsons game, fear not, this is one that makes up for all the poor attempts in the past. The humor is spot on, the writing, the gags, the overall atmosphere is just rolling in Simpson ecstasy. Let’s hope that any more attempts in the future will live up, and hopefully surpass, what has been exampled with The Simpsons: Hit & Run. Antonio LeCara
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