Space Chimps

Space Chimps, The Review

OVER VIEW:
Space Chimps is a game based on the all CGI family movie (Rated G) of the same name released in 2008 by 20th Century Fox. The movie is about the beginnings of the space program where they (NASA, presumably) are still sending monkeys into space. From what I know of the movie, Ham III (the grandson of the very first chimp ever sent into space) is a circus monkey by trade, which makes him the not so bright, wise cracking, reluctant hero. He is accompanied on his mission by two fellow, by the book chimps, commander Lt.Luna and Titan. During the course of the movie they crash land on a far away planet and must over throw an evil villain, Zartog! The game like all other movie based games was created to coincide with the movie’s release and was done by Brash Entertainment. The movie got mixed to bad reviews. It seems that professional reviewers like the movie better than the general public. The game however seemed to do better with the reviews all around. You can also check out this IMD link to know more about the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482603/


PLAYABILITY:
Space Chimps is a single player game rated E for anyone ten and up, but my daughter whom was only 6 progressed thru the game nicely. There are eleven levels, no difficulty setting and you get an infinite amount of lives. Progress is saved thru check points with an auto-save feature. I would like to note here that the final boss is the easiest boss fight I have ever had. This is your basic side scrolling 3D adventure and for comparisons sake think of it a lot like Super Mario Adventures where you must solve puzzles to progress thru most levels. These puzzles are pretty easy to figure out due to this being a game geared toward the younger crowd, but some of them do make you stop and think. The control scheme is very smooth and very simple. You have basically only a few actions: Jump, punch, shoot and pick up or use object. There are options to invert your axis if you so wish.

You play this game as one of two pre selected characters from the film, Ham III or Luna for each level. Though the controls are somewhat smooth it’s the camera angles that do the ultimate damage. You have the choice to move the camera almost 360 degrees most of the time. Unfortunately it’s not a true 360 degree pan, meaning you have to stop and re-pan to the other direction once you get to far. Although the camera lets you pan it also auto corrects it’s self at the most inappropriate times. The most annoying of these times is when you are swinging on a vine and must quickly get to a smaller pinpointed objective without falling to your demise. There is one Shoot ‘Em’ Up Style level where you fly on an alien (dinosaur looking bird) which is very easy.
If playing for fun this game would take you less than 3 hours to complete, but come on we’re here for the achievements, so now you’re looking at five to ten hours. (SEE ACHIEVEMENTS)

GRAPHICS AND SOUND:
It’s always a nice feature when you get the voice actors from the movie to also make the video game. Sadly only Luna (and the non playable Titan) lend their voices to the game. Then again the only notable actor I would have recognized from the movie would be Zartog himself portrayed by Jeff Daniels. I will have to admit the voice acting and script are not that unpleasant. In fact only the repetitious natures of Zartog’s minions are the only real downer. The game does provide a few cut scenes within and between most levels.

The in game music is I think taken directly from the movie and not very bad. Some of it is pretty slow and could lull you to sleep but I rather like the menu screens music kinda catchy! Graphically speaking the game is a gem! I have seen some very ugly games but this one is refreshingly crisp with very movie like graphics and clipping is pretty much never an issue. I really can’t say anything more that.

EXTRA/BONUS CONTENT*:
As you play thru Space Chimps you unlock some pretty standard video game bonus content:
Concept art for the film and video game.
Trailers and various video for both the film and game.
Both Ham III and Luna have two additional costumes to unlock. Ham gets a Mime and Pirate outfit while Luna gets a Tiger and a Ninja outfit. They don’t give you any special powers.
Two mini games, both based on the Shoot’em up level . Each has three modes to it, for a single player or *double players. They are: Classic (where you face endless waves of enemies and only three lives, Survival (standard how long can you last on a single life) and Time Attack (where you must survive a set amount of time)
*This is the only place for two players in this game and is done in co-op.

ACHIEVEMENTS:
There are 23 achievements worth 1000 gamer score for this game, all are obtainable off line. Only six achievements are story related and will come automatically thru natural story progression which amounts to 260 gamer score. You have to work for the other seventeen (740Gs). You will probably spend ten or so hours to get all 23 achievements. If done right you can actually play thru only once and get them all, but due to the time trials and globhoper (which look like little different colored gummy drops) collecting you’re looking at least two full play throughs. There have been no glitched achievements that I have found but the collectable globhoppers may give you a little trouble. Though the globhopers are pretty much for the most part out in the open you do need to take your time to search for a few of them. The Dole Bananas are hidden a little better. Here is a link to a guide to all the globhopers and Dole Banana’s, (which was not written by me): http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22...

NOTES FOR ACHIEVEMENTS:
Cheats? Never found the need for them, yes it’s that easy. Then again I have never heard of any for this game either.
There are 560 globhopers (30Gs and 50Gs) and 11 Dole Bananas (60Gs) that must be collected prior to beating the final boss. Five of the globhopers and one banana are located in plain sight while battling the final boss.
One achievement is for not falling to your demise ever in a single level (35Gs), although easy to do this can be done easiest while fighting the final boss as it’s nearly impossible to fall during this ridiculously easy boss.
You cannot skip watching the credits (20Gs.) after defeating the final boss this must be uninterrupted for the achievement.
There are ten time trails achievements (450 Gs.) The shoot ‘em up level has no time trail achievement. These can be extremely annoying and I would suggest looking at some youtube video guides (they can also be found on trueachievements.com) before attempting them and then make your own adjustments as necessary.
One achievement is tied to unlocking bonus content. (40Gs) Collecting a certain amount of globhoppers Dole Bananas and even completing some of the time trials may need to be done to unlock this, but not all of them.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
In all I would say that this is a great rental game. The replay value is very low and for the most part enjoyable I don’t see myself ever going back to it. If you’re looking for something to whip out some easy gamer score in short amount of time or to occupy your time between grinding, boosting and other long frustrating games, I would suggest this one. Just be aware the time trails can get a bit frustrating and I would do them as soon as you complete a level as to keep the details fresh in your mind. Just because it has a low replay value doesn’t mean it’s not a good game though. Due to the attention to detail that Brash put into this instead of just shoveling it out as a fast and crappy game I gave this three stars.