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Scooby Doo Unmasked
Ever since the Scooby Doo movies, the
franchise has received a much needed boost and this time, the console
world gets Scooby Doo unmasked that has the gamer playing as everyone’s
favourite mystery solving pooch, Scooby Doo! Fortunately for Scooby, he
has the rest of Mystery Inc. gang to uncover the mystery behind a series
of unfortunate events.
At the beginning of the game, players learn about the gang’s latest
destination, which just so happens to be a visit to Fred’s cousin, Jed.
However, their plans go awry when they arrive at the location of Jed’s
occupation (which just so happens to be a creator of animatronic
creatures that make viewing monster oriented motion pictures worthwhile)
where they discover that the whereabouts of Fred’s cousin are unknown
and the unsettling news that his creations (each with their own devious
intentions) have also been mysteriously missing in action. What’s the
gang to do? Do what they do best, of course, to go out and solve that
mystery.
Playing as Scooby, you’ll be thrust into the charming world that anyone
who’s ever watched the animated series has come to adore from the
franchise in which ghouls, poltergeists pulling pranks, and other
menacing creatures do their absolute best to strike fear into the hearts
of the beloved brown pooch and his pals. Luckily for Scoob, he has
access to a variety of different of costumes (all of which work to his
benefit given the fact each costume grants him different abilities he
does not normally possess in his standard form). While the game surely
makes an attempt to add some depth to the gameplay with the
implementation of these costumes, it ends up feeling rather cheap in
both execution and incorporation (more on that later).
In addition from hopping, swinging, and flying from one platform another
in order to accomplish your goal of getting from point A to point B, the
game throws a variety of different enemies at you in accordance to which
environment you’re currently playing in. You’ll come face to face with
animatronic ninjas, spiders, phantoms, armoured knights and other
baddies that you’ll combat throughout Unmasked .
The biggest issue with these enemies is that they’re aren’t particularly
smart. They’ll make their best efforts to bring you down on your four
legged behind with two to three basic attacks, some of which can at
times be pretty cheap (especially when jumping from one platform to the
next while getting a shuriken thrown at you).
Despite their lack of offensive ability, they do serve a purpose.
Throughout the game, your fallen enemies leave behind Mubber, a material
which can be deposited into machines in order to compose items that work
to your benefit. In utilizing this substance, Scooby can slip into
something more lethal by creating costumes.
The most exceptional part of the game is how the graphics perfectly
emulate the look and feel of an actual Scooby Doo episode. The game’s
visuals are running on a cel shaded engine rather than the latest and
greatest engines complete with complex bump mapping and bloom effects.
It was nice to see that some actual thought went into going about how
the game should look, which is probably why the game’s style has an edge
over the game’s lack of substance.
In conclusion, Scooby Doo: Unmasked is a great title that is aimed at
children that is a stock standard platformer with a touch of action,
adventure and mystery. Graphically, the title is rather adept but
unfortunately the gameplay of the title leaves a little to be desired
for the older gamer, strictly recommended for the under 15 crowd. Scooby
Doo: Unmasked is not a bad game, it's just a good game that should be
aimed at the right market. Great for kids!
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