For those of you not familiar with the work of Nick Park, his characters Wallace & Gromit have been featured in ten short animated sequences and a feature-length film. Wallace is a creative inventor with most of his inventions having peculiar quirks that end up causing more trouble than they are worth. His faithful companion, Gromit, is a dog that cannot speak but has very expressive body language and generally is tasked with correcting all of Wallace's mishaps.
Which leads me to my next observation: this game might prove too difficult for children. I want to preface this with saying the optional tutorial is perfect for setting the mood and teaching anyone the basic mechanics of the game, but the actual game content can be rather confusing. There is a particular instance when cheese must be placed on the constable in some way and though I played completely through the game twice, I never understood why or how the option becomes available. I would click on the cheese and then the constable and at some point, it just happened. Even with the hints turned on, I could easily see a child becoming frustrated with no clear signs as to what to do next or how to go about it. Perhaps this is Telltale Games' intention, requiring children and adults to play together?
Again, the controls to the game are easy enough to understand and a simple inventory system keeps the game running smoothly without being bogged down in multiple menu screens. I wish I would have known about using the Shift key to skip through repeated dialogue the first time I played the game, as it cut my game time in half the second time through. I fully understand not advertising the ability to skip through storyline as I think a player should hear the incredibly funny and understated humor once, but as Wallace tends to speak slowly, hearing him a second and third time became a bit torturous.
This is not to complain about the game's audio at all. Full voice-over work (and well-acted VO at that!) really brings this game together and makes it feel like you are playing the actual characters. The music throughout the game is fantastic and really ties some scenes together nicely. Not to give too much away, but the dancing bees in the basement made me laugh both times I played the game.
As for the actual gameplay, I cannot speak highly enough about the creativity and cleverness put into this title. I consider this a 2 – 5 hour game depending on your skill level and ability to use context clues. That being said, whatever time spent will be packed with unique puzzles that are never duplicated. I honestly cannot think of two instances in the game which require the same wash, rinse, repeat mentality you see in so many puzzle games these days. From timing your shots at bees with a batter gun to controlling a remote mouse that sniffs out cheese, there is something for everyone to enjoy in this game. The best part for me was the equal division of time between playing as Wallace and then as Gromit. Okay, in all honesty, my favorite was playing as Gromit solely to see his facial expressions when his work goes unappreciated.
To Telltale Games, I say, "Cracking good job!" on taking a great concept from film and adapting it perfectly into an interactive game. And to you, the interested game-buyer, I highly recommend purchasing this game immediately. It was able to capture the attention of my roommate who does not play video games but is an avid Wallace & Gromit fan, it kept my interest through two play-throughs and I am quite sure my 6-year old nephew would love to play alongside his parents. I look forward to the next installment in this series of four games as I am sure my recommendation will be to buy them as well.
Drew McGee has been a gamer since the Atari 2600 days and attempts to maintain a healthy weekly diet of console/PC/casual games. As a freelance game writer, he enjoys the epic stories of RPGs but also loves the pressure of a well-balanced RTS. When not gaming, reading or writing, Drew finds comfort on the trails throughout Austin's Hill Country.
