GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Mediocre
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 07/03/2007
- Released on: 06/26/2007
- Originally published on GameSpot: Ratatouille (Xbox 360) Review
One of the key themes of Pixar's latest animated film, Ratatouille, is not settling for junk food--literally. The hero, a rat named Remy, is always telling his brother to eschew eating any random garbage he finds in favor of working to find something more flavorful, and ultimately, satisfying. At the same time, the evil chef, Skinner, is conspiring to turn now-deceased master chef Auguste Gusteau's image into a mascot for cheaply made frozen cuisine, a plot that the heroes of the film have to thwart. So it's a bit disappointing and slightly ironic that the video game based on the film has more in common with the cheap junk food the film decries than any well-prepared, savory dish. This is especially true of the Xbox 360 version of Ratatouille, which not only is about as satisfying as a lukewarm microwaveable burrito, but also feels as though someone at the factory ate about half of it before shoving it into its packaging and sending it off to stores. It, like other recent films based on computer-animated flicks, is a simple, kid-friendly platformer that loosely ties into the plot of the film, but unlike many of these other recent platformers (and even other console versions of this very game), Ratatouille goes beyond merely being middling kid-friendly entertainment into being a sloppy and periodically frustrating mess.
Both the film and the game tell the story of Remy, a rat living in France who dreams of becoming a master chef--a dream that doesn't quite jibe with the others in his rat colony, especially his father. Unlike all the other rats, Remy won't eat just any piece of garbage lying around; he pines for more unique and expansive flavors, and actually has the crazy idea to try preparing his food with herbs and spices. So it is with great fortune that circumstance brings Remy to Paris and the doorstep of the restaurant once owned by his favorite TV chef, Gusteau. From here, the film launches into a brilliantly funny plot about Remy and a hapless garbage boy, Linguini, teaming up to create a master chef tandem. The game addresses a few of the key points from the movie, but for the most part, it skips over any potential spoilers and keeps its focus on missions involving Remy and his rat-colony buddies stealing food from various Paris locations. Oddly enough, there's very little cooking going on in the Xbox 360 version of the game, with almost all the focus being on the platforming gameplay.
Missions are standard platforming fodder. You jump and swing around various boxes, platforms, tightropes, ledges, and other pieces of the environment to get to areas that hold specific items, bring them back to other characters, or use them on other specific objects to unlock the next objective. Occasionally these missions are broken up by a chase sequence. Chase bits have you running from one of the human characters as they stumble around, trying to snatch you up. These might be amusing distractions, except that you'll often run into pieces of the scenery that aren't easily traversable, even though they appear to be. You end up with a lot of trial and error as you try to find the right path again and again. It doesn't help that some of these sequences feature inconspicuous instant-kill spots.
While a few areas of the game have a spot of originality to them, much of Ratatouille is pure formula. The mission designs are repetitive, and the controls are theoretically designed for such ease of use that you'd expect the game to practically play itself. That's just in theory, mind you. In actuality, Ratatouille's controls are anything but easy. The game uses the same mechanic that allows you to essentially glue yourself to narrow ledges and tightropes that the other console versions of the game use, but its reliability is suspect. Often you'll hit the button as you think you're right above a platform or tightrope, and end up plummeting to your death anyway. The only explanation seems to be that the game is quite picky about where you are when you hit the button, but it's tough to gauge where that is because the camera is such a gigantic pain. It often won't let you frame shots properly (it will frequently get hung up on set pieces and walls), so you're left to guesstimate if you've reached the proper distance to make the jump.
That's not the only aspect of Ratatouille that feels sloppy. You'll run into semifrequent instances of characters clipping through pieces of the environment. It's especially bad when Remy is trying to stand on something and ends up clipping right through it or bouncing off some invisible wall. Occasionally Remy will even get stuck in things he clips through, forcing you to restart the mission. There's even a control mechanic that seems to do absolutely nothing. In the other console versions, Remy can use his refined sense of smell to detect where he goes next (denoted by a bright blue scent trail showing you where to go). In the 360 version, Remy will start sniffing air, and then nothing happens. No scent trail, no anything. It appears to be a completely nonfunctioning feature.
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