Family Guy - Video Game! (PS2, PSP, X-Box)

Reviewed by Kit

Today's midweek review is about a game based off a television series. Most games that are based off of movies and tv shows fail miserably, but let's see how Family Guy - Video Game! did.

Story: There are different stories that you play through depending on what chapter you are on. Characters are given missions to fulfill for each stage. For instance, Stewie must stop Bertrum from stealing a satellite and Brian needs to find out who impregnated Sea Breeze while escaping from jail. Overall, it's nothing great. It's more of just a necessity to laugh and move on to the next character's zany antics. 3/5

Graphics: The game has that Family Guy cartoon look to it, but it also seems to be less refined than the cartoon. It looks like someone tried to draw the Family Guy cast but lacked the ability to do it properly. The colors all around are bright and colorful, and besides the somewhat off look to the art, it all seems like a Family Guy episode. 3/5

Audio: The cast came in to do the vocals for this game. However, as you wander around they'll will randomly throw in quotes from the show that barely have something to do with what you're attempting. In the background you can normally hear humorous lines that are there for no other reason than to entertain, such as "There's a man in a red and yellow shirt in the nurses' shower." As far as sound goes, this is very well done, even with the repetitions. 4/5

Gameplay: And here is where it all falls apart. The missions are by no means difficult, but they are extremely tedious. During the first stage, I found myself repeating rooms so many times because I couldn't do it right. Either I couldn't get the jump angle properly or I couldn't angle my raygun shots off the hospital walls just right. What starts off as amusing and cute quickly turns to "oh my god, just let me make this jump and I'll never ask for help again." Besides the annoyance of the levels, characters all have unique abilities that help them through the stages. 2/5

Replay: Oh gods no! I could barely play it the first time through, please don't make me do it again. 1/5

Overall: It had potential, like so many games out there. The failing is that it made missiosn so horrible that you'd never want to play anymore. If you want to play a game based off a show, I'd highly recommend Simpsons: Hit & Run. If you want to pick this up, I highly recommend a lobotomy. 2/5