A few summers ago, my family and I went to the movie theater. This rare event occurred so that we could see Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was a hilarious and fun ride! There were all these odd Goldberg machines that accomplished all these different tasks. The claymation made it rather cool to watch. However, the oddest and most interesting aspect of the entire movie (and franchise) is that Wallace isn't really the genius. Yeah, he's a very smart guy, but it's really Gromit, the dog, who's the genius. In the movie, Gromit's the one who figures it all out and then safely diffuses the situation and creates a happy ending. Snoopy has nothing on him. The first episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures series is Fright of the Bumblebees — and it has a solid foothold in the adventure genre.
Fright of the Bumblebees follows our two intrepid heroes as they try to meet a 50 gallon honey deadline. You see, Wallace started a honey bottling business in one of his attempts to make ends perfectly meet. Unfortunately, he has a debt from his last invention — a robot that sniffs out three different types of cheese — which devastated the local store. (Cheese is also Wallace's and Gromit's favorite food. And Wallace gets even more excited at the thought of it than my dogs.) So the owner of the shop offers Wallace a proposition: If they can make 50 gallons of honey by the end of the day, everything is forgiven (and then some). But how will they accomplish this? Well, that's one of those things you'll have to play to find out. Thankfully and surprisingly, it's a pretty good story. It isn't as funny as some of the other Telltale series games, but that's just my opinion. The humor is firmly British in nature. In other words, the humor is dry and much more reserved in the arena of brashfulness.
Gameplay is pretty much the same as traditional point-and-click adventure games. However, unlike other games from the genre, you use the WASD keys to move either Wallace or Gromit (you'll alternate between the two) while clicking on important things with the mouse. Here is the great joy of the game: Whenever you move the mouse over something important, it will be highlighted with a box. So, no more worries about not knowing what things are and are not important. Also, all the puzzles are based on logic. Thus, if you cannot figure out the puzzle, you haven't explored enough or, in my case, are missing the clues that are right in front of you. There was one time in the game that I was completely clueless. This was when you had to trap the crazed bees. Yeah, the solution was right in front of me. But I completely missed it, especially since it requires almost pitch-perfect aim (you'll get an idea of where I'm coming from when you get there).
Graphically, the game is exceedingly nice to look at. Unlike the other Telltale games that are animation based, Fright of the Bumblebees is all claymation, which allows for much richer facial expressions. Wallace shacks his hands in a variation of the "e" sign whenever he gets excited; Gromit's eyebrows raise whenever he is annoyed about a situation; Miss Flit, their neighbor who is obsessed about purple flowers, is completely dead pan (in a good way); and all of the characters express surprise over different situations. It can get even better if your computer and graphics card can handle it.
With the audio, you'll hear the same few tunes over and over again. It's not bad. I think it's pretty good and provides a pretty decent ambient noise. It has the feel of the 1940s or early 1950s, though who knows for certain what time period the game takes place. However, the real reason to play is for the voice acting. Each character's voice has been perfectly calibrated. There are no weird voices that do not fit the character. For example, there is good ol' Constable Dibbins, who believes that a robot should show remorse before it is released. I strongly believe that if anyone else voiced that character, it would not have worked as well as it did.
Overall, Wallace & Gromit Episode 1: F right of the Bumblebees is a pretty solid adventure game and a very solid game in its own right. With its strong characters, solid puzzle designs and unique setting, I cannot help but wonder where the next three installments of the series will take our heroes and their friends. The only major complaint I have is that there are not many overwhelmingly crazy inventions. That's the real pull of the franchise: to see what zany creation will appear next and how it will work. However, there is plenty of time for even more craziness to occur, so I'm not too worried.
This is a somewhat difficult game to recommend. Hardcore adventure gamers will probably appreciate the dry humor but may quickly zoom through the episode and go to the next game on their list. But, if you are one of those people who have gotten on the adventure genre bandwagon with Telltales Games, this is a worthy addition to your library. If you are one of those people who are not very good at adventure games and Telltale games are too brash and weird for you, Fright of the Bumblebees is right up your alley. So relax, grab some cheese and crackers, and enjoy.
