Over the Hedge (DS)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.4 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 06/05/2006
• Released on: 05/05/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Over the Hedge (DS) Review

Games geared toward younger players are typically repetitive, but Over the Hedge for the Nintendo DS sets a new standard for repetition. The 3D world is sufficiently interactive, the three playable characters are cute and useful, and the stealth-oriented gameplay, which is clearly inspired by Metal Gear Solid, is sometimes interesting. Unfortunately, all of those good aspects are totally savaged by a lack of challenge and by mission goals that mainly involve picking up and carrying generic items, one at a time, from point A to point B.

The game takes up right after the movie. This time, Gladys Sharp wants to bulldoze the forest to make room for a giant swimming pool. RJ, Hammy, and Verne come up with a scheme to foil Gladys' plan that involves luring endangered animals to the neighborhood, thus setting up the forest as a protected habitat. Endangered animals are apparently very greedy, though, and won't set up their homes unless RJ, Hammy, and Verne retrieve up a bunch of household items from the neighborhood. The majority of the game's roughly 20 levels center around locating a requested item somewhere in the targeted house and bringing it back to the backyard, successfully navigating whatever people, pets, and traps happen to be in the house.

Much of what can be done in the environment is actually quite interesting. The critters can jump and pull themselves up onto furniture, like dining tables and couches, and each has his own unique abilities. Verne can retreat into his turtle shell, which allows him to avoid detection from any nearby people or pets. RJ, the raccoon thief, can pick locks and hurl Verne's shell at distant switches to deactivate them. Hammy, meanwhile, can use his speedy squirrel powers to run faster and jump higher than Verne or RJ. Each house is stocked with people and pets that patrol the rooms like trained security guards, in addition to traps, such as security cameras and electronic beams, which can stun the heroic critters and alert the inhabitants to their presence. You have to alternate control between the three characters--juggling their abilities in order to sneak past the guards, navigate the environment, and avoid or deactivate traps--in an effort to retrieve the requested item that's inside each house.

Unfortunately, the level layouts are bland and don't require much exploration. Also, the game as a whole is ridiculously easy. While it may be possible to climb up almost anything, there's rarely a reason to do so. Within each level, there are perhaps one or two instances where you'll need to climb up furniture or sneak past an enemy. Often, it's perfectly acceptable to get noticed by an enemy or to spring a trap, because the critters can easily outrun their pursuers and are usually only temporarily stunned by traps. There are infrequent occasions when you have to stop and think about how to get past the overlapping traps and multihit hazards that can outright bring up the game-over screen, usually entailing the use of a specific animal's abilities to disable some portion of the security system; but once you do that, it becomes a matter of simply picking up the required item and walking it back to the drop-off point.

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Over the Hedge (DS): $24.99

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