Review: Hail to the Chimp

Hail to the Chimp
Gamecock Media, Wideload Games
Available on PS3, Xbox 360

Hail to the Chimp? I don't think so.

Wideload Games and Gamecock Media have released another one of their independent game titles, Hail to the Chimp, a strange little party game with a humorous political twist.

The King of the Animal Kingdom, the Lion has been caught in a massive scandal and has decided to step down from office. With his leadership position now open to all the animals, the kingdom has decided to have an election to vote in the next leader of the animals. You could be that animal!

Hail to the Chimp gives you several different animal characters like a chimp, hippo, octopus, all who have unique personalities, to play through each mini game and ultimately win the election. The game has 10 characters for you to choose from each with their own unique power moves.



Single player, multiplayer and online modes are available which allow you to play against other players. The single player mode has a campaign which allows you to unlock cartoons, new areas and other fun stuff, all while you peruse the role of Commander in Chief.

The mini games have you running around different boards like a volcano, dock or island paradise while collecting clams (votes), fighting off other competitor and dodging bombs. Problem is that mini games are so chaotic that it’s hard to control your character or even know what's going on in the game. Plus I found that even though the goals for winning the mini games changed, the basic game mechanics were always the same - collect clams and fight your opponents. This made each mini game repetitive and boring after a while.

The game's cut scenes and menus sport a CNN spoof that really brings out the political humour that missing in the game play itself. The unlockable "Hot Coffee" cartoon is especially cute, but honestly this humour was not enough to distract you from the boring game play.

The graphics are a cute and cartoon but I didn't really find any of the characters that appealing. Their voices were either stale or annoying and generally I didn't want to root for any of these animals in their run for office.



While the developers were shooting for an older audience with its political humour, the goofy mini games seem like they would be much more appealing to kids and this all makes it really difficult to determine what demographic this game was aiming for. This is suppose to be a party game but I couldn't find one friend willing to play it with me and even online there was barely anyone to play a game or two with.

While I've heard drunken friends discuss game ideas where they could pit polar bears against shaved gorillas, I don't think Hail to the Chimp is even close to animal kingdom game they were hoping for.

Rating: 3 out of 10
Forget it!

Review: Insecticide for Nintendo DS

Insecticide
Gamecock Media Group, Crackpot Entertainment
Available for the Nintendo DS and PC

This week I’m taking a crack at reviewing my first indie game with Crackpot Entertainment’s Insecticide, a point & click adventure/action game which was released through the controversial Gamecock Media Group. This unique title, created by former Lucas Arts employees, embodies the same emphasis on storytelling, humour and character development that you find games like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango.

The game takes place on a future planet Earth where years of genetic food experiments have caused insects to mutant and become the dominant race. There you follow Chrys Liszt and Roachy Caruthers, two insect police officers from the Troi City Insecticide Division as they try to solve the murder at the Nectarola soft drink company. Chrys is a hard working orphan with a murky past, who pours all her energy into her work and her partner, Roachy is a veteran detective, hell bent on cleaning up the mean streets of Troi City.



Insecticide is dubbed a Science-Fiction Action Adventure game, but honestly I see it as more a point and click adventure game with a couple of action levels thrown in at the last minute, because while the investigation levels made the game interesting and entertaining, the action levels are just annoying distractions taking you away from all the good parts of the game. The game probably would have faired better as just an adventure game on its own.

The investigation levels were well laid out and just mind boggling enough to make you want to keep searching every nook and cranny for hours so you could find that last clue. Some puzzles were harder than others, but like most adventures games, Insecticide made you think outside the box in order to solve its puzzles and I wouldn’t have it any other way.



I was a little surprised that the developers didn’t use the stylus controls for the action levels, but playing with the d-pad controls didn’t seem to make the levels any harder to navigate, so I guess I can’t complain. The developers did incorporate the stylus touch controls into the investigation levels, which worked perfectly and really made me feel like I was playing Day of the Tentacle or Full Throttle again.

Fans of the game, Psychonauts are going to love the graphics in Insecticide as they look born from the same demented mind. From the dark colours to the similar 3D model character types, you would think someone at Crackpot Entertainment was a big Tim Schafer fan or at least a close, personal friend. Even the humour used in this game screams old Lucas Arts with its goofy use of puns and geeky references to old 60s sci-fi movies and pop culture.

The music in the game is a good mix of classic film noir jazz and action pack chase music which is all performed by a full orchestra. The dialog is well done, but the sound effects were a bit off. Moments that should have had sound effects didn’t, which just seemed a little lazy on the audio department’s part.



I’ve been a big fan of the adventure game genre since I started PC gaming and I’ve been a bigger Lucas Arts adventure game fan since I got my hands on Day of the Tentacle, so being able to play a game that encompasses all the things I love about both genres makes me so happy, I want just to quote pirate insults. I can’t recommend this game enough to my fellow adventure game/Lucas Arts fans.

In a industry where so many mainstream game companies are filling the store shelves with garage game titles, I’m glad to know there is still publishers that are willing to support independent game developers with unique game ideas. Indie game fans can also look forward to games like Hail to the Chimp, World of Goo, Fez, Audiosurf and Crayon Physic Deluxe in the next year, thanks to the support of companies like Gamecock, Sony and Microsoft. Look for their reviews in the future.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

EIEIO 2008: Insecticide Trailers

Insecticide: Justice PC Trailer
Get ready for a hard boiled tale about a hard shelled squad of detectives.



Insecticide Cinematic
Go behind the scenes and see what happens when bugs become the dominant species and take over human cities.