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ESRB: 
Platform: XBox 360
Category: Action
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Graphics 8 |
Sound 8 |
Gameplay 8 |
Tilt 8 ||
Overall 8
Author:
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Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Features
Players: 1
HDTV: 720p/1090i/1080p
In-Game Dolby Digital
Over the past year I have had the opportunity to view Disney’s latest animation movie based game Bolt in various stages of its development, and with each stage I became increasingly more excited to play the final build. The improvements and tweaks the developers put into the game at each stage really seemed to pull the game together to make it a fun and enjoyable title for all ages. Well the retail copy is on store shelves and Disney Interactive was kind enough to send us here at GameBoyz a copy to review.
Graphics
Though the games graphics are not taken directly from the motion picture they are similar in style and look. Fans of the film will be drawn to their favorite characters from the movie. Bolt himself is ever the adorable puppy running across the screen and fighting bad guys. Some people may want to grab a ball and jump on screen to play a game of fetch with the pooch he looks that good.
The game environments are all wonderfully detailed and really come to life. I thought that the backgrounds were definitely one of the visual highlights. As Penny and Bolt you will travel to some interesting international destinations including the coast of Italy, the Mayan temples in the jungles of Belize, a frigid and snow covered Russia, an ocean port in China, and the hidden island of Oceania. Overall the graphics accomplish their goal in bringing you onto the set of Bolt for an action adventure of superhero proportion.
Sound
The voices, sounds and music throughout Bolt create a great atmosphere for an action super-hero game. Unfortunately, John Travolta and Miley Cyrus do not reprise their roles as the voices of Bolt and Penny respectively. In fact, Bolt doesn’t talk at all throughout the game and his dialog is limited to growls and barks. The voice actress who does play Penny though does an excellent job of recreating the voice of her big screen counterpart, Miley Cyrus, right down to her well known accent. On an even more plus note, Malcolm McDowell reprises his role from the big screen to the video game as the villain Calico. And lets not forget Rhino, the loveable hamster from the motion picture. He plays a bit part appearing during the games pause menu and makes comical comments as if he is watching your gameplay as an actual episode of the television program.
The sound effects are as well done as the voice acting and continue to add to the atmosphere of the game. Bolt’s super powers are not only powerful but the sound effects that go along with the Sonic Super Bark, Ground Pound, and Laser Vision create an audible sense of power. The different battle sounds will definitely grab your attention, like Bolt tossing one of Calico’s henchmen into exploding barrels, or Penny sneaking up on a henchman to take them out with her trusty Wheel Bar. Overall I was impressed with the little audio details put into to the game that helped bring the sound to life.
Gameplay
In the past, many video game tie-ins have been near carbon copies of their respective movie’s storyline. However, the new trend seems to build upon the story and expand it even further. This is the direction that the console version of Bolt has taken, with the players working their way through TV episodes as Penny (Bolt’s TV Owner) and Bolt. The story is about a super power endowed dog named Bolt and his owner who you will see has some skills of her own. Penny’s father, a world renowned scientist, has been captured by the evil Calico and his shadow organization. It is up to Penny and Bolt to rescue Penny’s father from the clutches of evil and save the world from destruction.
Each character has their own unique abilities which provides added variety to the gameplay. Penny is a technological whiz and comes equipped with a motorized Wheel-Bar which allows her to slide along ledges, pipes, ceilings and cables. The Wheel-Bar can also be used as a weapon which Penny can use to perform sneak attacks to knock guards unconscious or to quickly attack an alert henchman. The other gadgets at Penny’s disposal are Techno Camo allowing her to become invisible for a short time to avoid detection, gas grenades which she can slide towards unaware guards to put them to sleep, and night vision goggles that give hints to where you should progress to next. Penny is quite the computer hacker as well and she uses this skill to open doors and hack databases. Hacking is accomplished by successfully completing a virtual shooter mini-game where you shoot down Counter Intrusion programs which look like little pods. As you destroy all the enemies you progress through barriers and eventually open up an access point which will either send you to the next portion of the mini-game or it will complete the hack and you resume control of Penny.
Bolt on the other hand is one ferocious canine puppy that uses his super-dog powers skilfully to take down his enemies with a variety of offensive maneuvers. Bolt, at a basic level, pounces from enemy to enemy linking his weak and strong attacks into combos, or he uses his powerful jaws to grab onto an enemy and perform one of his four finishing moves. Bolt also has four super-dog powers: Ground Pound, Sonic Super Bark, Laser Vision and Invulnerability. Ground pound is where Bolt jumps into the air and pounds down on the ground launching all nearby enemies backwards. If the enemies are unlucky they may fly into explosive barrels, vehicles or boxes scattered throughout the environment. Sonic Super Bark has the ability to damage an enemy slightly, but its main power is that it will stun them for a few seconds so that Bolt can get some attacks in while they are distracted. Using this power will help you break down the strong defences of some of Calico’s henchmen. Laser Vision is the last offensive power that Bolt has at his disposal and is his most powerful of powers. The drawback though is that it is difficult to aim from a distance and is best used when up close to your enemy. Bolt’s Invulnerability shield is very useful when you are being run down by an SUV, or you have an explosive disc that attached to you from an enemy called Disky. To avoid being damaged just use your invulnerability shield, but beware it does drain on Bolt’s energy reserves.
All of Bolt’s super powers can be powered up by building up Bolt’s combo meter and increasing his energy. To build up your combo meter you have to link as many attacks in a row as you can, the higher the attack combo the more the combo meter increases. When the combo meter is full, unleash your Uber Super Powers for devastating and awesome attacks.
As you play through the storyline you will alternate between Penny and Bolt as individual goals in the various levels are tailored towards each specific character. In the areas where stealth, problem solving, and technology are required you play as Penny. In contrast, where brute power and combat is needed you play as Bolt. As you make your way through the story you will be able to collect health and energy fills during each mission. Every nine fills you collect will replenish your health or energy as well as increase the maximum amount of energy ever so slightly.
The gameplay is quick and easy to learn and may seem a bit undemanding at first, but as you progress through the game the difficulty seems to increase. Veteran (e.g. mature) gamers will find the gameplay quite easy, but overall Bolt will definitely provide a challenge for the younger gamers which this title is definitely geared to. Being a huge animation fan I really enjoyed Bolt, and my two year old son really enjoyed watching Bolt in action as I played through.
Conclusion
The great thing about Bolt is that you don’t have to see the movie to enjoy the game and it definitely won’t ruin the big screen’s story for those of you who have not yet seen it yet. Bolt is a solid family title that I really enjoyed. Though it is geared towards a younger audience it still maintained my attention throughout and kept me playing to the end. Bolt should be a definite addition to your videogame library, especially if you want to keep those younger kids entertained with some typical Disney fare.
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