Cars 2 The Video Game
SCORE:74
Disney Interactive Studios has their act
together. I was still recovering from E3 2011, and Cars 2 The Video Game arrived. I am
doing the review from the Wii version of the game. Cars 2 The Video Game is also on the
Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, Mac, and Nintendo DS. This game is inspired
by the movie. For those wondering, I have not seen the movie yet. Cars 2 The Video Game
on the Wii has me interested in the movie. Thus far it looks like Cars 2 The Video Game
is a mix of the Incredibles, and James Bond. I will be curious to see
how Disney Pixar pulls it off.
There are a lot of little details in Cars 2 The Video Game that are done amazingly
well. The cars act like real live characters in the game. Cars 2 The Video Game
includes a lot of humor. The video game is not at the level of the
movie. There is also some violence in Cars 2 The Video Game. Players shoot the
different cars in battle mode, hunter mode, survival mode, and more. Now
in the multi-player these are all selectable. As well as just plain
normal races. We found the normal races are more fun than throwing
weapons into the mix. When a car is hit by a weapon they spin out.
Making a mistake like driving off a cliff respawns the family member in
the middle of the track. Some minor progress is lost.
The game includes local play for up to four players. This splits the
screen up. We found it can be difficult to see where to go next when you
only have one quarter of the screen to play in. More than one player can
join in the story mode, but this lead to more frustration than fun. Two
player mode splits the screen a lot better, and is very playable.
The voices of the characters are present and accounted for in Cars 2 The Video Game.
The music fits the theme of this game, and is a real joy to listen to.
The various characters crack their lines, and phrases throughout the
race. If you happen to die too often you may get tired of hearing the
same thing. One of our testers got frustrated with this. It also depends
on who you pick. I found it was fun to play with the twenty different
characters. Not everyone is brought across from the original Cars. This
may disappoint some families. There are enough new characters to warrant
a listen.
Cars 2 The Video Game is packed with different modes. I am amazed at how many different
ways the race tracks can be utilized. Cars 2 The Video Game contains a plethora of
unlockable content. There are characters, tracks, modes, and more. The
more spy points I accumulated the more content I unlocked. This is
really cool, and will warrant replay value. Which is good because the
story mode can be beaten in a weekend. Especially if you do well in the
races the first time.
The biggest shock I got from Cars 2 The Video Game is the controls. There are a lot of
them. Imagine a Mario Kart style racing game with shortcuts that lets
your car hop. This can access tough to reach areas, secret paths, and
more. As an adult gamer I appreciated the complex controls. I did find
that children under the age of ten can have problems with the controls.
Which is a shame because young kids love Cars. It would have been nice
if the game was more approachable for them. My six year old son still
does not understand why he can't play Cars 2 The Video Game.
The main goal of Cars 2 The Video Game is to get to the finish line first. There are
variations to that like shoot as many of the bad cars as possible, or
survive attacks on your car. I had concerns when I saw screenshots of
weapons for Cars 2 The Video Game. Thankfully Disney Interactive Studios did not go the
Twisted Metal route with this franchise. There are various modes, and
the violent ones can be avoided when families are playing together.
- Paul
Graphics: 74%
Sound: 75%
Replay/Extras: 79%
Gameplay: 70%
Family Friendly Factor: 71%
System: Wii/Xbox 360/PS3/PC/MAC
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Rating: 'E10+' for Everyone 10+
{Cartoon Violence}
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