Sometimes you hear about a game and think it has potential; then something just doesn't seem quite right. When I first saw The Ugly Prince Duckling at the Game Developers Conference this year, I thought the demo version looked good, and the idea behind it sounded even better. But from what I was seeing of the game play, there was no way I could ask my kids to play. Still, there are not many available PC games that focus on the story, and this was the first one that I'd heard of that was inspired by the works of Hans Christian Andersen. So when the game was released, I decided to try the full version. I didn't want to judge the game by the short amount of time I'd had with it at GDC, but after hours of playing at home, I wish I had. I really need to learn to trust my instincts and just say "nope, this isn't worth it."
My first complain is the camera. It's beyond awful, especially for a game that is designed for children and an adventure game at that. The camera locks in place on each of the dozen or so screens, and you have to navigate Hans around that screen from his vantage point. There is a setting that makes it seem like the camera could follow Hans, so you'd have your typical third-person perspective on the game world, but it doesn't work. Just to be sure it wasn't something wrong with my machine, I installed the game on three different computers, and still got the same problem. What this means is that there isn't a scene in the game where you aren't stuck trying to guess how to navigate because some world object, be it another person, a barrel or part of a building, is in the way.
This camera problem also made it incredibly difficult for me to figure out how places connected to one another. Granted, the "world" is less than a dozen different scenes, but still, they should have seemed connected to one another somehow. But because you never knew when the camera was going to flip perspective, it was hard to get a sense that you were moving around from one place to another. For example, as you come in to the town, Hans is walking toward you. But as he gets into town, suddenly the camera flips to the center square, and Hans is moving away from you. And to continue along a straight line, assuming that's what you wanted to do, you have to stop pressing the down arrow key and start pressing the up arrow key.
This brings me to a problem with the interface itself. It is, well, shall we say, limited. You can only interact with the game world at VERY specific points on the screen. For example, to get money in the game, you have to stand in just the right spot next to a barrel, the icon will appear to "kick" and you hit the space bar to kick. If Hans is turned wrong or not standing on just the right spot, the icon never appears. But, there's no way but to try to strafe around every boundary in game to find what you can interact with and what you can't. None of the shops you see can be entered, either. Your actions are limited to talk, open, pick up item, give item, push, kick and examine. The one time I got the "examine" icon, nothing happened. The little "wait" hourglass appeared as though something was going to happen, but after a few seconds, it went away. I never did figure out what Hans was examining when he stood staring at the candle
As far as the story line goes, the word "linear" would be an understatement. Because you have to interact with objects only when you're in just the right spot, and because interacting with people requires you to be meeting them at just the right time and place, there is no room for creativity on the player's part. At one point in the story, you've been told that the magic glow and tinderbox are extremely important and that the princess needs them. You work to get those items - I won't say how in case for some you may want to try this game for yourself - and give them to the princess. Being the spoiled brat of a princess that she is, she tosses the tinderbox away and does something with the magic glow, though I'm not sure what. Having seen how linear the story was up until that point, I figured that when the troll that appeared said I needed the tinderbox, it was up to me to find it. I spent at least half an hour going through every bit of each of the scenes I could find searching for the tinderbox and spoke to everyone as I found them. I never did find the blasted tinderbox. But I did find a girl willing to sell me matches. I was able to use the matches to light a candle that was in the mill where the trolls had taken the princess. So I was able to rescue the princess, but by the time I did so, I was out of matches, magic glow and tinderbox. Oh, and I might add that everyone else in town but the princess and Hans had beat feet out of town because, apparently, when Hans drove the trolls out of the mill, they took over the town.
The good thing about the game is the graphics style. It fits a game that's designed for children. I give props to the art department and to the sound people, as well. The graphics are a cartoon style, especially the character models, but the scenes that are there did fit well with the feel of Hans Christian Andersen's time.
And I do have to mention, in all fairness to the developers, that I did not complete the whole game. After rescuing the princess fraom the trolls, and then not being able to figure out how to get her out of town, I gave up. I have no idea how much more of the story there is beyond that point. I know I have a cake I never used, and someone gave me carrots somewhere along the way after returning the goat to its master. But beyond that, I have no clue.
Sometimes I'll play a game like this with a walkthrough, where I'm told each step of what to do and how to do it, just to see the story part of the game unfold. It takes out the mystery and guess work on my part, but to be honest, with this game, there wasn't any to start with. However, even if I did have a walkthrough, I wouldn't play The Ugly Prince Duckling. The camera issues, the bad interface and the limited interaction with the game world make me want to take this game off my PC as quickly as possible. I haven't even asked my children to try it, despite it being rated "E" and supposedly designed for children. I know they would be even more bored and clueless than I was while playing it, so there is little point. I can't recommend the game to anyone, unfortunately. And I really wanted to when I heard its premise.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
