Reviewed: November 29, 2011
Reviewed by: Jason Flick

Publisher
THQ

Developer
Blitz Games

Released: November 1, 2011
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2

9
8
9
8
8.9

Supported Features:

Puss in Boots' swashbuckling storyline follows the movie almost to the whisker as you find yourself sneaking, jumping, and even having a dance fight in this rather enjoyable tail… er, i mean tale. Okay that's the last cat joke I swear. But seriously Puss in Boots is a lot of fun and that’s primarily due to its PlayStation Move support. Don’t worry you can still play with the controller…but it’s just not quite the same.

You play as Puss as he reluctantly travels with Humpty Alexander Dumpty and the purrfectly enchanting Kitty Softpaws through town, desert, and even a famous castle in the sky. He has his claws and sword set on finding a legendary treasure, a golden egg laying goose, to repay the town of San Ricardo that he unwillingly betrayed a long time ago. Only this adventure is full of classic fairytale characters, betrayal and plenty of feline charm.

The PS Move supported Puss in Boots functions pretty well though I encountered a few moments of trial and error in the balancing portions of the game. I played with the Move wand all the way through the first time, as it is the obvious and preferred choice for a sword based game. The sword fighting was very fluid with only momentary angling issues with drawing sword. Attacking is simple by just waving the Move wand around like an actual rapier sword. I found this method hands down better than the normal controller’s multidirectional waggling of the right analog stick, though I did appreciate that to over-mashing a button to death.

One of the funniest and coolest parts about Puss in Boots is that you never really take out your enemies with your sword. Instead you attack until you can trigger the ability to kick the enemies into one of the various traps scattered throughout each section of the game. Some have you knocking moose heads over unsuspecting foes or sending them for a cold bath in a barrel but you can rest assured that that’s only half the fun.

Amidst all the traps there are collectibles such as golden eggs and wanted posters to collect as well as the guitar power-up. If you knock an enemy into one of these guitars you can use it to snare them into dancing by strumming the Move wand up and down until prompted to swing it the guitar like a bat to dispatch them. There is also the Claw Frenzy attack that once activated allows Puss to claw his foes to shreds before knocking them back. The only issue I found is that unless you’ve memorized to location of the face buttons then you’ll find yourself momentarily looking down at the wand to make sure your hitting the right one leaving you open to an attack.

It wouldn’t be a Puss in Boots game without little suave antics from our favorite ginger cat. You get to use those guitar skills to charm senoritas throughout your adventure. When you’re not seducing the ladies you’ll be putting your directional pointing skills to the test during the dance fight and several stealth portions. You have to very quickly hold the Move in one of the four cardinal directions so Puss can mimic one of several objects to hide behind. The controller method leaves you with the usual QTE button press which isn’t nearly as fun but effective none the less. You do have to rock some of Jack and Jill’s sleeping pigs back to sleep by holding the wand vertical and moving it to the left and right in the same fashion that is cool, but that’s nowhere near as cool as rail-grinding down a giant beanstalk on a giant leaf.

I have to say that despite being a fairly short game spanning only ten action-filled chapters I found myself breaking this up into two sittings. It’s nowhere near as active as the Kinect version but after a while my arm just got tired from all the motion. The fun part about Puss in Boots is that you can tackle some of your favorite action sequences in their own separate mini-games that you can do alone or grab another Move wand and have family or friends join in. My favorite and probably the most exhausting is the “Shape It Up!” mini-game that has you matching the wand motions and rocking pigs until the time runs out… eventually. You keep making the shapes and time keeps being added.

Puss not only has awesome gameplay but a great adventure story that is told in a mixture of CG animation for the gameplay and colorful storyboards for even the darkest of moments. Part of me is amazed at how close they actually got to the movie with this one. It’s still just as charming as the movie and I love all the locales and character designs. The detail on Puss and Kitty’s fur is awesome and you’d swear you were watching parts of the movie at times. The giant’s castle is still my favorite level with all its twisting vines and cleverly complex paths. Kitty is a great character and kindred spirit to Puss and their dialogue interaction is one of the best parts of Puss in Boots. I also love the Latin flair in the music and atmosphere to the whole adventure that really rounds out Puss’s world.

I don’t normal recommend movie tie-ins let alone enjoy them that much, but I have to recommend Puss in Boots to anyone with a PS3 and a PlayStation Move package. It’ got the right amount of DreamWorks charm, excellent gameplay and visuals and plenty of replayability long after you beat the story. You’ll find yourself going back to get gold medals on each level and getting all the collectibles that you missed the first time though. It’s a great addition to my PS3 collection and if I played my cards right I won’t even have to have Puss give you the cute stare to make you pick this up today.