Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris and Stewie Griffin are not an average family.
The Griffins have a talking dog named Brian. They have conversations with Death. And they get into fistfights with chicken mascots.
For several years, people have been able to watch the family’s vulgar humor and offensive antics as they invade viewers’ TV sets with the help of Adult Swim, the late-night programming on Cartoon Network.
And now, for those of you who just can’t get enough of the backward family, you can buy the “Family Guy Video Game!”
The one-player game begins with Stewie, who has to stop his archrival, Betran, from stealing the family satellite dish. When Stewie’s dad, Peter, is crushed beneath the fallen dish, Stewie must stop Death from taking Peter’s life at the hospital.
Brian is the next character you play. He is accused, in typical “Family Guy” fashion, of impregnating a dog named Sea Breeze. Stewie’s convinced of his innocence, and players must maneuver through the jail, collect evidence that confirms his story and help Brian break out of prison.
Peter is the last character whose story you get to play out. Peter is engaged in a battle with Mr. Belvedere, who he is convinced is trying to take over the world.
Although the game is littered with funny references to the show, it would better suit a child than the typically adult audience the show caters to.
As the Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) reported on Nov. 1, “There’s just not enough variety or originality to make the interspersed comedic nuggets worth mining.”
But what can you really expect for the price? For the $30 video game, expect slow gameplay and poor depth perception.
“It’s just not really a proper video game,” according to a review on www.jolt.co.uk an online gaming network. “It’s more a collection of amusing ‘Family Guy’ cut-scenes and half-arsed interactive Flash mini-games spliced together as haphazardly as possible.”
Not only is the animation less
than satisfying, but the game
becomes frustrating more often than it should. Some of the levels are even repeated, making the competition boring.
Yes, the video game is entertaining for what it is, but there’s only so much fun to be had when you’re an infant, a dog or an overweight slob.
