Something is amiss in the animal kingdom. It appears the King of the Jungle was caught, not-so-red-handed dining on vegetarian cuisine! His subjects have lost faith in his maned magnificence and deposed him from the throne. Yet, someone (or something) must rule in his stead. After years of predatory rule, the entire animal kingdom, from the deepest sea to the loftiest perches is running to take his place. Choose your candidate, pick your platform, and decide the fate of wild in Hail to the Chimp.
I like party games. I used to like politics - now I just mock them. Hail to the Chimp is a party game that mocks the American political process of electing a head of state. Can you see the smile on my face?
Unlike most party games, Hail to the Chimp falls squarely in the adult party game genre. This is not to say that the mini-games are at all beyond the ability or comprehension of the younger crowd; quite the opposite. But, the humor, the mocking, parody of everything we hold so dear *sarcasm up another notch* is definitely for adults.
Developed by Wideload Games, the creators of Stubbs the Zombie, who self-style themselves as "designers of only fun games", Chimp allows up to four players to "earn" the right to call themselves King of the Jungle. Through a series of mini-games, players will compete for votes - known as clams - along with additional bonuses, to earn the highest score. Uhh...I mean votes.
Yes, when I was damaging those voting booths I was earning more votes, yeah, that's what they call it.
Between events, the game is peppered with commercials, some paid for messages by the candidates, some just random retail commercials. And then there are the breaking news stories. For me, these breakaways are what really made the game shine. Watching Orcrah the talk show host attack her guest and demand an apology had me smiling. Toshiro the Samurai (Octopus?) whose slogan was "Vote for me or Die" attacking Jellyfish Murgatroyd was funny; Murgatroyd responding... Murgatroyd only speaks in bubbles. I have no idea what she said. I think it's a she.
And then there is the news commentary from the GRR Network hosted by Woodchuck Chumley. Quite simply, nothing compares. Chumley does an ode to Hot Coffee that has to be at least 5 minutes long that had 6 of us laughing - for the entire 5 minutes. All of the breakaways have to be earned as you progress through the election process but once you've unlocked them in all their glory, you can watch them over and over.
With 16 game types and 10 levels, there are enough mini-games to give the title quite a bit of replayability. Even choosing a 5-round election, there is no way you'll unlock a significant portion of the commercials. We played 3 games. In general, they felt familiar as far as they are party games but they were definitely notched up a difficulty level or two. Doing poorly too long during game play will earn you a veto - something akin to a timeout - and the opposing candidates can team up and work against you should they choose to.
I have mixed feelings about Hail to the Chimp and it's on a rare sticking point - the price. I own every party game there is - I have kids - we play them all. But over time, I've learned that the best, along with the worst, just don't get played as often as you'd think. And those designed for adults only - unless Rock Band - simply don't get played enough to warrant a $39.99 price tag. Still, I never stopped laughing while playing the game. It is of exceptional production quality, amazing humor, and stupendous voice acting... but will I still be laughing when I play it the 5th or 6th time? And will I play it a 7th?
I'm a mother of two boys, ages 7 and 10 and live in the chaos that ensues. I've a permanent disability that keeps me homebound, so books, kids, games and books are my constant companions. Oh, and books, too. *grins*
My children both play games so I often play them first, getting to know exactly how something may effect my sensitive and easily stimulated older child vs. my stoic and imperturbable younger.
I like games for games; for the pure enjoyment of them and believe that no game is wholly bad, though some are real stinkers.
I also have the dexterity of a camel in mittens so find playing FPSs difficult (and I also don't like the gore) and RTSs at times can stump me. I just can't seem to move quickly enough to keep up with them. Some of my favorite games are arcade games and I'll spend 3-5 years on the same 5-6 levels because I just never get any better. But, I have fun.
