Reviewed: December 11, 2007
Reviewed by: Stacey Meade
Publisher
Activision
Developer
Beenox Studios
Released: October 30, 2007
Genre: Action
Players: 1
7
7
7
7
7.0
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Welcome to DreamWorks The Bee Movie Game for the Playstation 2. This game tells the story about Harry B. Benson, a bee and all of his adventures in the real world, well, at least the real world of bees. Have you ever wondered what the life of a bee is like? Well your ideas are all wrong. The Bee Movie Game for PS2 will pull you into the fun fantasy world of bees. In this world bees’ can talk, have jobs, and drive wax cars. Let’s explore the hive!
During the Bee Movie Game there are many tasks and jobs that you will be able to explore. In the beginning of the game you start out in New Hive City. Having just graduated college, Harry is now looking for a job. There are several jobs you can choose from within New Hive City. You can be a taxi driver which requires you to drive around in a taxi and pick up passengers in an allotted amount of time. This can be pretty tricky if you don’t know your way around the hive. I suggest that you explore the city and the factory before trying this job out.
Another job that you will be able to experience is a race car driver. You will get to race around New Hive City. There is also a version of racing where you have to run into certain marks in the fastest time possible. You will also be able to become a Fast Food deliverer. During this job you will have to deliver boxes of food to different locations. While delivering the food you will have to be on time and keep your boxes from tipping over. You will also have the option of becoming a Car Mechanic. During this game you will have to repair different wax car engines. As you advance through each level you will have to repair more cars within less time and repair more damages.
You will also be able to perform jobs within the factory. You will be able to become a honey comb separator. During this job you have to only allow the non-burned honey combs to fall within your tube. You will also be able to fill tubes full of honey and fill trucks up with honey packages. All in all these side jobs are simplistic and pretty easy.
The whole time I was playing these side jobs I was thinking of how inefficient the hive factory is. This part of the game is really more of a time filler and not very exciting. But if you are like me you will not be able to resist completing all the jobs and unlocking all the bonus features. The bonus features include different outfits for Harry to wear, different cars he can drive, and an arcade were you can unlock Atari 2600-like games. The arcade games are all bee themed. You will also be able to collect honey combs through out the game on each level. Try and collect them all. If you miss some on the levels outside of the hive you will be able to return and complete the levels over.
Missions outside of the hive are all very different. Your first time out of the hive you will experience a session where you will have to hit certain buttons in rapid succession, God of War style. You will do this each time that you travel swiftly to new locations. One of the other missions outside of the hive is collecting and distributing pollen. You will have to go around and suck pollen out of flowers and then use it to regenerate the sick flowers. You will also have to use your pollen to attack invaders of the dragonfly and mosquito form. This part is easy, once you lock onto targets and shoot you are sure to hit your target. You will also be able to collect honeycombs in these areas.
Another mission outside of the hive is dodging rain. Rain is no good for bees. A couple droplets and you are down for the count! You will have to travel several times in the rain. During your travels in the rain you will still need to collect honey combs and regenerate flowers. Luckily there are air currents that will take you swiftly through the rain to safe hiding place. You can hide in garbage cans and even hide inside a person’s umbrella as they are walking. Don’t worry if you are not near an air current you can also use your bee senses and slow down time and dodge the rain. This part of the game is easy as well. Dodging the rain is very easy as long as you allow yourself enough time to reach the next hiding place.
All the while you are playing the game there will be cut-scenes involving a news anchor woman-bee. She will have you recant all of your adventures outside the hive. You will also be allowed to witness scenes from the actual movie. If you would like to be surprised at all on how the movie will turn out I do not suggest playing this game until after you have seen it. There is definitely a ton of spoilers in this game.
The graphics in this game are what you would expect from the Playstation 2. Not terrible but a little on the boxy side. The rapid button pressing sessions have mediocre graphics. However the scenery is very nicely done. I like the way that they have portrayed the flowers and the hive. Most of the scenes from the movie also have toned down graphics. You should expect to see better graphics portrayed in the movie. But again this is Playstation 2 level graphics and they are not comparable to that of the next-gen consoles.
Throughout this game you should expect to hear a lot of Jerry Seinfeld’s voice. Other than that there is a constant theme music played through out the game. I didn’t think much of the music in fact I had to turn on the game again so I could hear the music again. It is just not memorable, it's what you would expect from this type of game. I am glad that they used Jerry’s voice. It would really have put a damper on this game if they would have used an impersonator. The sound in this game is mediocre at best, but I really don’t see what they could have done to improve it without changing aspects of the movie.
The Bee Movie Game for PS2 costs $39.99 which is pretty reasonable for this title. This game offers a lot of entertainment and there are a tons of things you can do. This is a great family game. And for a movie based game, it is surprisingly entertaining and fun for all age groups. You and your family will spend hours having fun trying to complete all the activities in The Bee Movie Game.
I really liked this game and would recommend it for families who want to get the most value out a game. This game will keep you occupied for hours. There are hundreds of things you can do and achievements in the form of medals. From being a taxi driver to helping protect the hive from dragon fly invaders this game is challenging, fun, and enjoyable with numerous environments to explore inside and outside the hive.
However this game can become repetitive. Some of the jobs can become boring after doing them ten or more times, but I think younger gamers will find this game entertaining and a great enhancement to the movie.