Developer
Year
Players
Price
|
Telltale Games
2009
1
$10 (800 MS points)
|
|
This review looks at an additional episode in an ongoing series. Please read The Fright of the Bumblebees for a look at control, graphics, and elements common to the entire series.
Story
The local dog shelter needs rebuilding after a fire, and its four legged residents are now homeless and making mischief. They've even managed to break one of Wallace's inventions, the Infiniflavour ice cream truck, which can turn anything you might want into an ice cream flavor. Gromit is a dog, so surely he can reason with them? After the truck is back in operation it's time for the Fundraise-A-Fair, put together by canine lover and philanthropist Monty Muzzle. However, it is generally unwise to trust a man with a mustache and mousy face. Gromit begins to suspect that something is amiss after his dog friends go missing. Can Wallace and Gromit find them and expose Monty as a fraud? Stay tuned...
Achievements and Puzzles
If you don't care about spoiling any of the story, feel free to look at the list of achievements before playing or you may not earn them all. You will at least get four for completing each chapter, but many are discovered by accident. It's reasonable to assume that there will be at least one cheese related achievement. The puzzles themselves are perhaps a little more challenging than those in the previous chapter. You may assume that you know how to complete a task, but it often takes a lot more exploring to figure out exactly what you need in your inventory and what needs to be done with the items at hand. Expect frustration to set in more than once. That said, it all fits together reasonably well.
Characters
The whole cast and crew is here to attend the fair, along with newcomer Monty Muzzle and whippets Filcher, Twitch, and Digger. Felicity Flitt is in the mood for love and primarily captivated with Monty. Duncan McBiscuit vies for her attention and achieves it primarily through plagiarism. Mr. Paneer does a lot of counting - one gumball, two gumballs, mwa-ha-ha! Major Crum and Mrs. Gabberley are in attendance as well, generally indulging in gluttony. Constable Dibbins is irked that his duties require him to stay in town during the festivities. All are completely blinded my Monty's charm. Oh, there's also some chickens.
Is it worth buying?
Expect to complete the game in fits and starts, and you shouldn't be overly disappointed. The story is interesting and the characters as quirky and British as you would expect. There's even a horrifying twist at the end which will need to be addressed in the next episode - a veritable cliffhanger!
--Erin Pawlus
December 14, 2009
Other Links
