Preview Body

Previewed: October 29, 2004
Previewed by: Mark Smith

Release Date: November, 2004
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone

Based on the unfortunately successful book series and the upcoming feature film starring Jim Carrey, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is the tale of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, whose parents perish in a fire. Soon after, they are sent to live with their sinister uncle, Count Olaf, in a most cavernous mansion. Great tragedy becomes greater misfortune as Olaf’s despicable plans are revealed and the siblings must combine forces to prevent the Count and his henchmen from seizing their immense family fortune.

Switch among the Baudelaire orphans and utilize their special skills as you journey through 16 perilous missions, from the deep catacombs beneath Olaf’s mansion to the gloomy shores of Lake Lachrymose. Collect household items with Violet, the intrepid inventor, and assemble them into cool contraptions for puzzle-solving and combat. Wield those items with Klaus, the brave intellect, to battle Olaf’s minions. And mind the tottering toddler, Sunny, as she chomps valiantly through obstacles in the orphans’ path with her 4 very sharp teeth. Should you emerge victorious in your attempt to foil Count Olaf’s wicked plans, rest assured your success will be temporary, as only woe awaits you in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

KEY FEATURES:

Be The Baudelaires—The player can switch between the three Baudelaire orphans throughout the game, playing as Violet the inventor, Klaus the brave intellect, or as Sunny, the biting baby. Some missions are designed to take advantage of a specific character’s abilities.
Invent To Prevail—The orphans will gather objects throughout the adventure to build ingenious inventions for solving tricky puzzles or for fending off Olaf’s creepy cohorts – a word which here means people who are dreadful enough to consider Count Olaf a friend. Inventions include the Brilliant Bopper to clear enemies from your path, the Steady Stilts to maneuver through toxic goop and the Baby Booster for jet-powered jumping.
Vanquish The Villains—Defeat Count Olaf and his wicked henchmen who assume many disguises in their never-ending pursuit of the Baudelaire orphans and their family fortune.
Experience The Adventures—Players will engage in over 16 different missions based on the adventures from the movie and the first three books; exploring Count Olaf’s mysterious mansion, navigating Uncle Monty’s intricate hedge maze and racing from Aunt Josephine’s rickety house before it plummets into Lake Lachrymose.

I recently had a chance to take this charming new action title for a spin and was pleasantly surprised that we are about to get another great game inspired by a movie. While I’ve only seen a few trailers for the movie, it looks fantastic and if it’s half as good as the game I played, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is going to rule the box office as well as your favorite console.

A Series of Unfortunate Events is an action-adventure game with plenty of traditional puzzle environments that require object collection, but to put a spin on the design, many objects can be combined to create unique inventions. These weapons can then be used as weapons or tools to solve other puzzles.

In a wonderful design move that pays tribute to classic co-op games like The Lost Vikings, you will have plenty of opportunities to switch between the various characters to solve more complicated puzzles that require each characters unique abilities. It also allows you to play sections of the level twice, but with a totally unique path or method of solving the various challenges.

One example I got to experience firsthand included navigating a mansion hallway during a hurricane. As the floors and walls disintegrated around me I found I had some very tricky jumping and platform puzzles ahead of me. As Klaus, I have my special propeller shoes that allow me to glide great distances. Violet has a similar glide feature only she uses an umbrella to achieve her extra lift.

Of course the real show stealer is Sunny, the baby, described as fearless and having four very sharp teeth. Sunny’s smaller size allows her to fit into openings the older kids cannot, and her teeth allow her to chew through wood and even metal obstacles.

The traditional platform game style is broken up with entertaining action games, like where Sunny is sliding down a series of broken pipes. You have to make her jump over gaps or damaging steam jets until she reaches the bottom, then she can chew her way to the solution that will allow her to rejoin her siblings. Another mini-style game has Klaus cleansing the mansion of rats.

In my preview version the control was solid but I did have a slight issue with the auto-targeting and how it relates to the camera. Normally you have full control over the camera with the right stick but when an enemy is nearby the camera goes on autopilot and for some reason zooms in to where you cannot see the enemy you are locked on. This results in a lot of instances of you running at the screen attacking an unseen enemy.

Of course you can’t have a game like this without collectibles and in this case you will be gathering hundreds of puzzle pieces stashed inside urns and other objects. It basically promotes the smashing of just about anything in the levels that can be broken.

There is also a clever invention process that has you collecting several small items then assembling them to create something wildly unique. The “ingredients” are displayed as a series of icons that match what the item looks like in the game world. Find the matching item and the icon animates. Find them all and you can go into the inventory screen and put them all together to create your new item.

Assembling these inventions takes a bit of manipulation, as you must spin each item around in 3D looking for the connection points to put them all together. As odd as it sounds, when a broom, a coffee can, a spring, and a boxing glove can come together to form a punching cannon you know there is some imagination at work.

The level designs are simple enough for kids yet large enough to offer plenty of opportunity for exploration and puzzles. Many of the levels are taken from the movie and much of the artwork and set pieces were directly captured or inspired by the actual movies sets.

The designers have created plenty of opportunities for cooperative puzzle solving. In the reptile house there is a section where Klaus must use his shoe-propeller jumping ability to reach a button that opens a gate so Violet can reach the next area. She must then use her stilts to wade through the deadly swamp water, all the while dodging the snapping tongues of the Venus flytrap plants.

There is a generous checkpoint system that auto-saves quickly and frequently, so even though some of the environmental challenges can be tough, you won’t have to replay anything other than the challenge at hand.

The entire project is given some extra authenticity with the inclusion of several cast members reprising their roles. Jim Carrey even did some rewrites and improvisation on some of his parts. Tim Curry, who does not appear in the movie, lends his distinguished voice to the game as the narrator of the story.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events combines challenging gameplay that will delight young and old alike. There is a bounty of secrets to discover with plenty of DVD-style extras to unlock for your efforts. The game is slightly “dark”, but I think the designers have countered anything too sinister with charming level design and colorful art making this a perfect game for the entire family.

While we wait for more details on this charming new title, check out our collection of screenshots in our Preview Gallery.