Reviewed: November 19, 2007
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Beenox Studios

Released: October 30, 2007
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2

8
8
8
8
8.8

Supported Features:

Here we are 12 years later, and CG features are as big as ever with Dreamworks turning out titles that are competing with Pixar in both the theater and home video game market. The most recent of these CG features is Bee Movie, an animated tale of a bee (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld) with all of the clever twists and insider jokes we’ve come to expect from Spielberg’s animation team. And, as to be expected, when there is a Dreamworks movie making the theatrical circuit, Activision is hot on its heels with a video game tie-in.

CG animation has come a long way since the days of Toy Story, and to say that Bee Movie Game looks as good as Toy Story would be underselling just how good this game really is, but the core concept of that comparison is still valid. If anything, Bee Movie Game, at least the Xbox 360 version, looks as good and as close to the theatrical animation quality as any movie-inspired game that has come before it. Of course I do need to suffix a quick disclaimer that I am basing this comparison on trailers and TV spots, as I have not seen the film. I’m currently boycotting all things Dreamworks until they reverse their stance on HD vs. Blu-ray…but that’s another story.

Bee Movie Game is targeted towards the younger crowd, but as most of us already know, these movies (and their associated games) have a way of appealing to the kid lurking inside all of us, so don’t be surprised to find yourself glued to the TV for hours, even if you are in your 40’s or beyond. This delightful mix of action, arcade, racing, and a few dozen other genres all rolled into this honeycomb hideout is fun for the entire family.

Bee Movie Game follows the adventures of Barry B. Benson, recent graduate of BU scoring straight B’s, who has moved back home and is slacking around the house, at least until his dad forces him to go to work at Honex, the factory where they manufacture two cups of honey per year. But Barry discovers an insidious plot – humans are stealing their honey! Barry takes it upon himself to uncover the nefarious plot behind the stolen honey and save the day.

The game is presented quite cleverly as a TV-style interview, with Barry recounting his heroic efforts as a series of flashbacks that tell a story that mirrors the film. Between episodes, Barry will need to perform odd jobs around the hive or hang out at the local video arcade. This effectively creates two dynamic worlds and two very unique styles of gameplay; one inside the hive and one outside, in the big scary human world of New York City.

The connection between these gameplay threads is a bit cryptic, as you will need to work around the hive until you are notified that a new chapter in the story has been unlocked. And once you complete the story, more activities within the hive become available. It’s an odd balance, and one that keeps you from rushing through the story and skipping all the hive activities.

So what is the day in the life of a bee really like? In the case of Barry, you can go to the factory where there are three jobs waiting for you. These play out as fun little mini-games that test your reflexes, and with upwards of 10 stages per game, your patience as well. But that’s just the jobs down inside Honex. In the upper section of the hive city you will find all sorts of odd jobs. You can fix cars, deliver food, drive a cab, or enter a series of challenging checkpoint and lap races (with weapons and power-ups) around the city. Yes, bees actually have and drive cars. Turns out they hate to fly.

These mini-games are equally as fun as they are rewarding since you do get paid for your services. The car repair basically tests your reflexes by hitting the matching controller buttons or twirling the analog stick to loosen or tighten nuts, or squeeze the triggers to swap out engine parts under the hood. Food delivery is quite challenging in that they stack your meals on the back of a scooter and the boxes will start to tip and sway as you drive around the city. You’ll need to use the triggers to counter-balance and straighten the stack or they will fall off. Driving the taxi missions consists of you picking up passengers and dropping them off at their destination, all within some increasingly strict time limits.

There is an arcade where you can hang out and play video games, once you have purchased them. These are usually some classic arcade knockoffs like Frogger or Space Invaders, but with a bee twist. You can also spend your hard earned loot (honeycomb currency) on new outfits and new cars. The one thing that annoyed me was that whenever you got out of your car and did anything else in the game your car would warp back to the garage. Not to worry, there are thousands of cars around the hive and many are parked, and there is apparently no penalty for grand theft auto.

Life inside the hive isn’t have as fun (or dangerous) as it is once you venture outside with the Pollen Jocks. These flyboys are the guys who go out and retrieve the pollen required to make all that yummy honey, but rather than walking on flowers and having the pollen stick to your legs, you’ll be equipped with the Pollinator, a gun-like device that collects and dispenses pollen. This is both a tool and a weapon.

Gameplay in the outside world is quite different than the hive. You are either flying around large complex environments, exploring for honeycomb pick-ups and pollinating flowers while trying to achieve certain objectives, or you are thrust into on-rails action sequences where you must quickly match button presses and directional movements. It’s very similar to the action sequences in games like God of War, Tomb Raider Legends, and Spider-Man 3. These sequences are some of the most fun, and certainly the most cinematic moments of the game.

The free-roaming exploration is equally as fun. You steer with the left stick and push A to move forward. The B button slows down time for a few precious seconds giving you a slight advantage, and the Y button toggle Bee Vision, which highlights all key items in your view. Each level as multiple objectives, some critical to completion and others purely optional, like finding all the honeycomb and hidden statues and pollinating all the flowers.

Scattered about the levels, almost like Pac-Man dots, are yellow bits of honey to collect. Most are obvious but some are tucked away. Then you have flowers. Some glow gold and you can collect their pollen using the Pollinator, then find flowers with ugly purple and black auras and shoot them with the gold pollen to bring them back to life. It can be a bit tedious at times, but the Achievement points make it worth the effort. There will also be numerous photo ops indicated by a camera icon. Simply lock onto that icon and focus your camera to snap a shot for the gallery back home.

Traveling around New York City is dangerous enough, with the traffic and people, but just wait until it starts to rain. Bees can’t fly in the rain, and if you get hit by two or three drops you are done for. This is where Bee Reflex comes in handy. You can actually slow down time enough to freeze the raindrops in midair then fly around and between them, going from cover to cover until you reach your destination. It’s a cool effect that even surpasses the suspended rain visuals in the new TimeShift game. Your Bee Reflex is only good for a few seconds and then you have to let it recharge.

Also scattered about the indoor and outdoor levels are wind tunnels. These are simple drafts that would go unnoticed by humans, but for something as small as a bee, these become the expressways of the sky. Simply drop into one of these swirling vortexes and get whisked away to the ending point. They are usually full of honeycomb bits so it’s best to ride the entire tube from start to finish but watch out for obstacles in your path.

And finally, we come to the boss fights. These are quite simple in theory, but your reflexes will be tested. Boss fights consist of you buzzing around a central target area, which slowly increases the enemy’s annoyance meter. From time to time you’ll need to fly outside this area to avoid a swipe, but once you fill their meter you will engage in more of those quick button-matching sequences, often with humorous results. There are special awards for beating the bosses without taking damage.

Speaking of awards; there is a huge list of objectives and associated rewards for completing them that you can review from the menu. If you missed any of the objectives on your first pass you can always return to the J-Gate and replay any part of any chapter until you get it right. The good news is that any goals you did finish in that chapter stay finished, and you only have to do what you missed previously. Many of these medals translate into Achievement points as well.

The levels are huge and unique with two very distinct themes for inside the hive and out. Inside, you get a lot of yellow, gold, pink, and other pastels. All of the buildings, furniture, streetlamp, mailboxes, and everything else all have smooth rounded edges and looks like it was actually fashioned from wax. Even the cars, both exterior and under the hood have creative attention to detail.

The character modeling is excellent, for bee, human, and other insects. You’ll go up against wasps and other natural enemies of the bee, and you can even unlock costumes that will allow you to play as those characters as well as uniforms for the various odd jobs around the hive. And kudos to Beenox for some of the best lip-synching of any animated game this year.

Special effects are amazing, with great lighting and shadows, fantastic textures, particle effects, and really cool visual effects for freezing time. The first time you see sheets of rain become suspended in time then resume falling, your jaw will hit the floor. It’s hands down one of the coolest effects I’ve seen in any game this year.

The camera can be a bit wonky at times but I’ll just chalk that up to the erratic nature of being a bee. It never hampered my ability to play the game since you are usually locking on with the left trigger for key interactions, at which point the camera corrects itself.

Sound effects are fitting and bring life inside and outside the hive to realistic and animated life. Inside the hive you mainly here the puttering of the cars, while outside you get the drone of traffic or the sound of pouring rain. Inside the office you hear the clacking of keyboards, inside the restaurant you hear silverware, etc. You get the idea. There are some nice special effects for the Pollinator.

The soundtrack fits with the theme of the game and the pacing of the action, but it does get repetitive, probably because the game does too. It’s not bad music, just not that memorable. You’ll probably tune it out.

With numerous mini-games, each with 10 or more stages, there are many more hours waiting inside the hive, plus, when you factor in the combat racing, arcade games, and a lengthy list of medals and unlockables, kids and adults will find at least 15-20 hours of engaging gameplay and activity with Bee Movie Game.

There are 50 Achievements required to earn the 1000 gamer score points. Many will come naturally through the course of normal gameplay while others, like getting the high score on every arcade game will take extreme effort. Other achievements are time based, or require you to defeat bosses without getting hit. A whopping 200 points awaits anybody who can earn all medals in the game.