Joystiq hands-on: The Simpsons

by Ross Miller { Jul 12th 2007 at 10:23PM }

We had a chance to play 5 of the 16 levels for Electronic Arts' upcoming title The Simpsons. A lot of work is being put in to keep the game satirical of the video games, and so far they're on the right track.

The first level we tried was "Shadow of the Colossal Donut," and unsurprisingly it had us facing off against a giant, robotic beast. (We are disappointed, however, that said beast was not large enough that we climb on top of him like in Shadow of the Colossus.). Each of the characters' special moves are fairly unique and integral to solving the levels. Bart, for a rather lame example, is the only one that can climb ropes, while Marge has a loudspeaker used to attract people for her Pikmin-esque mob.

Much like LEGO Star Wars, the game features drop-in / drop-out co-op. Because of the unique abilities of each character, you will have to switch between each to solve puzzles. The town of Springfield acts a central hub where you can access all the levels.

Gallery: The Simpsons Game

There are 31 game cliches you can find in the game, such as the water teleport of the obvious boss character weakness, as well as secret areas. In the Medal of Homer episode, we were shown a secret path to enter Castle Duffenstein. According to designer Greg Rizzer, the textures are actually from the original Castle Wolfenstein, showing a great attention to detail and appreciate of the satire source material.

Approximately 8,000 lines of dialogue from the show's voice actors are being used. Reports of Matt Groening being a boss character is true, said Rizzer, but he's not the final boss.

Unique to the Xbox 360 is online leaderboards for the target time mode. The PlayStation 3 will not have leaderboards but will reportedly have the betters graphics. The Wii version, whose visuals we did not get to see, will have -- surprise! -- minigames specifically tailored to the motion controls. One of the game mentioned was "Bite Night," an eating contest satirizing the Fight Night series.

We wish more developers would put this much effort into their licensed titles. The Simpsons is due out in the fall for all consoles known to man.

Tags: e3, e307, ea, electronicarts, handson, impressions, simpsons, thesimpsons

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Markusdragon @ Jul 12th 2007 10:26PM

Yegods, could this game actually be... *gasp* good?

Rod Munch @ Jul 12th 2007 10:30PM

Nah...

Reuben @ Jul 12th 2007 10:32PM

The Simpsons games have a reputaiton for being consitently better than most liscensed game. Every play that Simpsons arcade game? That ROCKED. I'm actually looking forward to this game, of course not nearly as much as Halo 3 and Silent Hill.

Markusdragon @ Jul 12th 2007 10:33PM

Consistently?

The Simpsons Wrestling?

Ryan @ Jul 12th 2007 10:34PM

I think you just played only the first and last simpsons games there, buddy. Ever hear of Simpsons Skateboarding?

Cale @ Jul 12th 2007 10:41PM

Hit and Run wasnt bad. It was worth the rent for all the on liners your passengers said.

Doug @ Jul 12th 2007 11:50PM

True, Hit & Run was good, but I believe the game your thinking of with passengers spouting one-liners was Road Rage.

Cale @ Jul 14th 2007 12:50AM

Yeah. Neither one of them were half bad though.

Alexander @ Jul 12th 2007 10:43PM

man I cant wait to buy my PS3 but I already own a WII60 this game i will own for all 3 versions

Neebs @ Jul 12th 2007 10:47PM

This actually looks really good. It's like a parody of video games...

Airen @ Jul 12th 2007 10:49PM

Shadow of the Colossal Donut makes for instant win.

waves @ Jul 12th 2007 10:50PM

This sounds pretty cool. Between this game and Haze, this E3 is going a bit post-modern.

majortom1981 @ Jul 12th 2007 10:59PM

Come on I actual liked barts nightmare for the snes. The bartman stages in that rocked.

Ed @ Jul 12th 2007 10:58PM

What's that thing on top of the 360?

Billiam247 @ Jul 13th 2007 12:53AM

Although I'm not sure exactly what is inside the top of it, that's a developers' unit, so I'm assuming it's got some extra hardware and\or beefed up cooling.

Noga @ Jul 12th 2007 11:19PM

obvious attempt at getting some hardcore gamers to play it with the "31 cliches" and "shadow of the colossal donut" but both very simple and pointless. It's just a different name for another boring boss. this game will be as basic as it gets. however, I don't think it will have that interesting humor that LEGO star wars does. if its good, awesome, a good simpsons game! if it's not, who can say they were surprised.

Roger @ Jul 12th 2007 11:43PM

they better have some good paradys. if only we could get some examples!

Thyme @ Jul 16th 2007 1:29AM

http://www.joystiq.com/photos/the-simpsons/310190/

Kratos! :D

baby sea tuna @ Jul 13th 2007 8:31AM

Haha, God of Wharf fish restaurant?! Classic!

Sean @ Jul 13th 2007 12:46AM

Are you SURE this looks good? I'm ambivalent... all these Simpsons games have been hit or miss. It'll be funny but god knows if it'll be any fun.

Adv2k1 @ Jul 13th 2007 1:53AM

SOunds pretty damn good actually a solid 8.5 sort of thing which is totally worth buying. It's easy to be skeptical but you never know when the next Goldeneye will come out to show us movie games can rock. Simpsons maybe the first tvshow game to be really something special