Over the Hedge PS2 - Nothing too special (Over The Hedge (PS2))

Member Name: CaimheKnox

Product:	Over The Hedge (PS2)
Date:	27/02/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Multiplayer.

Disadvantages: Camera angles, animations, lack of checkpoints, voice acting.

When Over The Hedge was released in theatres in 2006, it became very popular with children and adults alike, and the reaction from viewers was mainly positive. The game, however, didn't get so lucky. In my opinion, games tend to lose some of their magic when they're based off a movie (with the exception of a few), and this was no exception. However, the game also had a few advantages and was nowhere near as bad as some of the latest low-quality games. It mainly followed the film's story-line, with a few extra twists to add to the gaming experience, so I don't think the game deserved the bad reputation that it got.
When you start playing, you are put in control of a team of two animals. The player can decide who they would like their team to be, these are the options; RJ the racoon, Verne the turtle, Hammy the hamster or Stella the skunk. Every animal has roughly the same ability, so it doesn't matter which character you pick because it wont affect gameplay. However, there are a few minor differences within the team, such as how fast they move, the way they jump etc. I found that, when it comes to accompaying you on missions, every animal is quite useless and none of them really help you out much, except maybe when you're getting attacked by enemies.
While playing a mission, you will be given several primary goals and a few secondary goals as well. You must complete all primary goals to continue, but the secondary ones are optional (although completing these gives you access to the extras, including minigames). The missions are relatively simple and don't require much effort, which made the game quite boring. The player probably wont be challenged much, but then again it does have an age rating of 3+, so this is to be expected. I found that the most common things to do in a mission are jumping to avoid obstacles, fighting extremely weak enemies and solving puzzles. This, admittedly, made the game quite repetitive but I must admit that the makers of the game found alot of different ways to repeat the same tasks - so at least you get to do something different, even if it does mean going for the same goal over and over again. The puzzles are usually quite varied, ranging from activating a switch to navigating your way around house alarms without getting caught.

The fighting mainly consists of repeatedly hitting the square button, but you also have the option of using long-range attacks. Enemies are extremely easy to kill and of course it doesn't get graphic, but I found that young children definitely enjoy the simple but effective combat moves.
Another of the game's advantages is the multiplayer functions. You are able to play with a friend through missions - which definitely beats having a computer-controlled partner. You can also play two-player in the minigames, which consist of three fairly simple challenges including smashing up golf carts, racing, and some form of golf. The minigames can be unlocked through completing secondary challenges in missions.
However, despite the game's advantages, I can certainly see why some parts got a bad review. The voice acting was a big downfall for the game, in my opinion it sounded very mechanical and really just took some of the magic out of the characters for children. The characters in general looked quite good; I found they looked pretty much exactly the same as in the movie, but the animations were simply terrible. I thought they were jumpy and not very well developed, and I noticed that the characters seemed to stay frozen for a long time after they had finished talking. Hammy, especially, got on my nerves. Maybe this is just because of the numerous unsuccesful attempts at jokes, but I really didn't like the squirrel. Near the beginning of the game, he seemed to attempt to smile at the camera, and this scared even me, never mind a young child.

Anyway, I also thought the the game had a few awkward camera angles. I couldn't see what I was doing or where I was going quite alot of the time, mainly because the camera was doing it's own thing. I also found that in some of the missions, when you die you end up having to redo the entire mission because of the lack of checkpoints. This really put me off after I died near the end of a mission and had to start all iver again. Repeating the same thing over and over got very tiring and I had to force myself not to give up and do something else.
So as you can see, the game had it's ups and downs, and some parts were a little disappointing. Never the less, I think it succeeds in providing excellent entertainment for children, even though it is a little simple for older players. Overall, I would recommend buying this game as it makes a great birthday gift for kids.

Summary: A pretty average game, nothing to get excited about.