Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Page 2

22 Oct 2009 at 10:20:51 by
Systems used to review this title: (WII)

The Action Drawing parts take place in dotted squares within the game, so no need to wait for those stupid loading screens. At these points you have to draw directly in the boxes to create platforms and the like. Sometimes you have to create objects which are affected by physics, such as a ball for example, which clears a path in front of you. This is a great idea, but isn't utilised enough in the game in my opinion, nor do the physics seem to be particularly well on certain items, and it's just another idea which could have been executed a lot better.

Now, on the DS the drawing at least wasn't bogged down with the issues of the Wiimote and having a steady hand. You could at least draw what you wanted to draw without making tiny movement that would mean you'd have to start over again. You can see why this works on the DS, but there's no doubt in my mind that it would have had to be radically changed for the Wii, which doesn't seem to happen.

So that's the drawing, which I suppose is the main bulk of the review. It's disappointing and after the initial excitement of drawing your own world you end up with either pre-drawn items, or just random squiggles populating your world. Sometimes you wonder how ugly you can make the world, and that's a whole other review right there.

Let's talk a little more about the platformer element. It's by no mean revolutionary, and adding your own twist to the environment, as I've mentioned, does little to change the fact that it's still a platformer. But as a platformer alone, the game is actually quite good. The environments, as I've said before, are engaging and rather pretty, and you have to be spot on with your movements, otherwise you do die. It's simple. And it seems to have taken a lot from the old Mario games where you do have that twitchy feeling as you run through the levels, constantly adjusting your trajectory when jumping and landing. Furthermore, you don't have to waggle or throw your Wiimote around, moving is a simple matter of using the nunchuck stick, jump using the A button on the Wiimote (double tapping means you do a double jump) and melee attack is utilised by the B button, which you can also press and hold while jumping to deliver a sitting, landing attack to your foes. 

All in all the game isn't as great as it could have been. That might have something to do with the drawing, as it's incredibly difficult to actually create what it is you want to create on screen, giving you're waving around a Wiimote. It might have something to do with the actual story, where you don't feel connected to the cause of your game, nor do you feel any sympathy with race you're trying to help. It might even have something to do with the unlockables, which reward you with stamps and other items to make your drawing experience easier (even though the point of the game is in the title). For whatever reason it is, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter has a lot to do before we can be convinced the next actual chapter will be good enough to play. This game should have stuck on the DS and focused on more engaging puzzles and gameplay.

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