Scribblenauts
posted on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 21:53 by
theshadow
Scribblenauts is an interesting and innovative puzzle/adventure game where the player solves said puzzles by calling various items out of thin air. The concept was very interesting and true to the designers word the game has a vast library of words you can use to create various items. From apples, buttons, and Cthulu to God himself. At first, working through the tutorial and the first level I was having fun, but as the levels progressed the bugs and unpolished feel of the game started to become more and more prominent.
I'd like to start off by pointing out what I liked about the game. First there was the look and feel of the game. It felt very cartoonish and sketched just as one would expect from a game with the word 'scribble' in the title. The ability to literally pull anything out of your hat to solve the puzzles was just amazing and the game even gives you a flare rating based on how exotic your solutions are. They also award various merit badges at the end of each level based on things you did/didn't do that were out of the norm. Such as not killing anything, using an odd item, or protecting everyone. It is these good points that saved the game but they really only detoured from the glaring game play issues.
If I had to describe the game in one word I'd use 'unpolished'. Sure you could pull a UFO out of thin air to abduct a cow but the actual movement in the game felt clunky. Instead of relying on the D-Pad to move around you drag the stylus across the screen to have him chase it. This leads to issues if you accidentally drag off the edge of a cliff to quickly because he will blindly try to follow your command. Also, if you're trying to use a 'rocket pack' or 'flying carpet' they don't respond quite like you'd assume and often don't even start working for split seconds causing repeated failures. The hints provided for many levels are so vague you're left randomly finding some completely 'creative' method to complete it. Lastly, some things don't interact quite like you'd expect. For example, you can use a boulder to hold down a switch but you can't use a boulder and drop it over a trip wire. Overall the game could have definitely used a bit more TLC. Maybe others don't mind using the touch screen to move but I find it tedious.
I hope these guys attempt to make a sequel and spend more time polishing it up so that the game is a bit more enjoyable. They have an interesting idea that I think can make a great franchise.
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