Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal Review - PS2

2.5

Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Audio: 4
Multiplayer: 1
Innovation: 1

Introduction

What to say about this game? I had reasonable expectations when I started playing, especially after hearing about the rather good Duck Amuck on DS, but I was disappointed. The game is something of a mess. There are glitches aplenty, an uncooperative camera to wrestle with, and boring levels. The fun of running around as Bugs Bunny or Marvin the Martian wears out pretty quickly when you’re repeatedly falling to your death due to being forced to make a blind leap because of a terrible camera angle.

The story behind the game is that the evil scientist Dr. Frankenbeans, wanting to get rid of Bugs and his friends for good, has decided to send an army of robots through time after their ancestors. Your mission in the game is to rescue your relatives and put a stop to Frankenbeans’ evil plot.

Gameplay

The game is your standard platformer, with plenty of running around, jumping and collecting things. Collecting coins allows you to buy new weapons at vendors, while green tubes of Illudium Q-37 allow you to power up your melee weapons. These range from Bugs’ guitar, to Marvin’s glowing swords, to Foghorn Leghorn’s fists. Why Bugs attacks with a guitar is a mystery, but this is a Looney Tunes game, so it’s passable. Speaking of weapons, the range is disappointing. There’s a cool bear trap launching gun, but it’s mostly the usual stuff - shotgun, grenade launcher, etc. The targeting system is terrible, so you’ll have difficulty firing at what you want to. Melee attacks are far more reliable, and you’ll find yourself using them the majority of the time to get through a level.

The levels generally consist of finding your way through the area, beating up a few enemies that get in your way, and jumping a few gaps. You’ll sometimes need to flip a switch or two, but it doesn’t get much more complicated than that, making it an ideal kids game. However, even kids will get frustrated with the linear level design, lack of challenge (aside from accidental deaths) and glitches. For example, every now and then your character will appear to get stuck to their surroundings, unable to move. You’ll have to give the control stick a bit of attention to get unstuck again, which is quite annoying. The control system is also rather loose, with characters appearing to slide rather than walk at times - a strange effect.

The lack of interactivity in the levels just feels wrong. There should be more to them, something that makes you want to get to the next scene rather than just ploughing through the game like a chore. The motivation to keep playing just isn't there, and you know that whatever comes next will be just like what you've already done. And while the Single Player mode is pretty bad, the co-op mode is possibly worse. First of all, it’s split screen. This is a big mistake since this kind of game requires full screen co-op for good reason. It’s hard ...