The Simpsons Game

One of the gifts Santa left under the tree for me this year was The Simpsons Game. I’ve wanted to play it ever since I saw the original Neverquest trailer; Neverquest being a sub storyline in the game. I gave the game a go yesterday for the first time and found that from the moment you start it up you’re thrown right into a delightful true Simpsons experience. The first thing you’re met with is Homer sleeping on the couch and you enter into a dream world tutorial of sorts. For those who have watched the series this dream world tutorial will be no stranger to you. Remember the episode where Homer dreams up a chocolate world? Yep, you’re headed there. In fact this is but just the beginning of the Simpsons references. The entire game is filled with them and it absolutely adds an additional layer of enjoyment when you’re able to chuckle to yourself and recall the episodes while tromping through familiar scenes.

After the tutorial, which is quite short, Homer wakes up and Bart is unlocked. I explored the Simpsons house fully and again laughed at not being able to see angles of the house that are not visible in the cartoon. I explored upstairs and downstairs and noted immediately that parts of the house and game are off-limits until Marge and Lisa are unlocked. So far I haven’t seen any reference to Maggie being playable. After I explored the house I went outside into Springfield.

I’m not as knowledgeable as some, but I took notice that the game took further advantage of how little is shown in the cartoon. Grandpa’s retirement home is a 30 second run down the street, literally only a few houses down. Krusty Burger, another major location in Simpsons lore, is next door to the retirement home! Loads more of these subtle moments that bring a smile to my face were all over Springfield. But I’ll leave those for you to find.

So how about the gameplay? You are free to run around the city with 2 characters at a time that you can switch out whenever you want. The city is yours for exploring and has been given a nudge of purpose from the devs by having collectibles scattered throughout the city. Finding them all isn’t the tough part because they are everywhere you look. Having the characters to obtain them when you find them on the other hand is a little less convenient. The game is pretty much linear once you decide to work on the story missions. Similar to how Grand Theft Auto or other ‘sandbox’ city games work players are given a beacon of light to signify the mission starting location. Simply take your character there and you’re launched into a cutscene (amazingly high HD quality btw) and whisked away into the mission. I’ve only completed a handful of these but so far they’ve consisted of saving the Museum from the local bully’s robbing it, an obstacle course, and helping Lisa fulfill her desire to thwart Burns’ tree chopping operation. All of these missions have been filled with funny cliches poking fun at traditional games. In fact, finding these cliches is part of the game. Comic Book Guy (I’m not even sure if he has a name) will chime in when you’ve found one and poke fun at “exploding barrels”, “doors everywhere that lead nowhere”, and other classic cliches just begging to be ripped on with a little Simpson humor.

Overall I’m constantly laughing and enjoying The Simpsons Game. I’m only about 15% done with the story missions and I’ve collected very few of the tokens. It should be mentioned that I have the Xbox360 version. I really like the 360 controller the most out of all the consoles so it’s a natural fit for me. The HD graphics and light hearted pickup and play gameplay are a winner. The Simpsons do everything in style, and this game is no exception. I’ll blog more on the game when I’ve advanced further.