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It's a mixed bag of comedy and repetative nature

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: October 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Family Guy is one of the most talked about shows on television, hands down. It's gritty and crude humor has captivated millions, and has caused it to draw on contraversy and rivalry like no other. Every good show deserves a video game. The Simspons has received plenty, Futurama got a game, Southpark got a game. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, like those games, Family Guy can just as easily be slapped with a "Fans only" label. Is Family Guy a good game? Well, yes and no. If you love the show, there's more gold here than you can imagine, and it does it far better than any other TV show gone video game has before. Where it suffers, is the gameplay itself.

Throughout the game you'll play as Peter, Brian, or Stewie. Each character has their own set of levels and their own story. All of which are interconnected. Each characters levels also play out far differently than any other characters. Stewie's level are platforming levels. Peter's levels are beat 'em up type levels (set up stirkingly similar to Final Fight) and Brian's levels are stealth levels. So you could say there's quite a variety here.

Stewie is once again plotting to take over the world. This time he's using Peter's satellite dish. Unfortunately Bertrand, his evil brother, is also planning to take over the world. Stewie will ultimately have to go after Bertrand. While this is happening, Peter suffers head trauma and finds himself in the hospital. When he comes to, he thinks Mr. Belvedere has kidnapped his family, and that everyone is out to get him, and now everyone is an enemy to Peter. Finally, Brian has been accused of getting Seabreeze pregnant by Lois's father, Carter Pewterschmidt. The stories eventually connect themselves, and come together.

If this all seems completely absurd and random to you, that's because it is. If you don't know certan things like who some of the characters I mentioned above are, it's because you don't watch the show enough. Trust me, fans of the show will be able to connect with the story entirely.

Let's get one thing out of the way. If you really are a fan of Family Guy, there should be no reason why you don't like the presentation of the game. Graphically it will definitely remind you of the show. It looks very similar to the show itself, and therefore really gives the player a feel for the show. Also, it's nice to see that the writers from the show have written the script for the game. This is obvious by the insane number of inside jokes that only Family Guy fans would understand. It's also obvious by the nature of the cutscenes in the game itself. All of them are filled with the crude, witty humor of the show. You won't find characters acting strangely out of character. Even better for the overall presentation, every voice actor from the show has signed up to do the game itself. Needless to say, the audio and voice work is top notch.

Simply put, outside of the gameplay it's like buying a full blown episode of the television show, and it's not so bad. It's funny, it's got it's inside jokes, and it has mini games whenever you come to a flashback moment. Whenever Peter says something like, "This is worse than the time I..." it means you'll have a chance to play a mini-game of that segment rather than watching it. It's pretty cool stuff.

As I said, however, it's the gameplay that begins to bog it down. Each character has their own set of levels to play through. Peter has brawling levels, Stewie platformers, and Brian stealth. In Peter's levels you'll basiscally go through the game in a Final Fight like fashion. It's even set up in 2D side scrolling fashion. You're job is to beat up anything and everything that moves. Each time you down an enemy they drop food that Peter can use to fill his snack meter up. When full he can unleash a devastating attack. It's fun, for a time, and there's a lot of different interaction among your foes, but after a while it gets mighty repetative. Peter doesn't have a huge vareity of ways to deal with his enemies. Also, the game is pretty difficult. You could be beating up one of your foes while he beats you up at the same time. Your health drops quite fast.

Stewie's missions are all platform based. As Stewie, you'll use your mind control gun to control certain characters. Whether you're manipulating Death to kill someone, or Quagmire to try to sweet talk women, there's plenty of it to be done. Stewie also has a lot of jumping, double jumping and puzzle solving to do throughout his game, but again, it feels bland at times. Stewie's game is still much more fun to play through than Peter's, however.

Brian's missions are certainly the least fun of the lot. He's all about stealth. You'll have to sneak your way through rooms and make sure you don't get spotted. Seems simple, right? Well, it can be. Although, it's hard to tell just when you're in the sight of some of your onlookers. It's not difficult, it's just very frustrating sometimes. Especially if you do happen to get spotted. You'll have to start over and listen to the objectives again. Brian's levels are the least amount of fun in the entire game, and they are probably the most repetative as well.

However, to the game's credit, the repetative nature of some of the levels keeps the game from having a steep learning curve. It's simple to grasp the concept of the game, and it can overall be very fun to play. The problem is that it gets recycled rather fast. The game can take an upwards of 10-15 hours to complete, and it becomes repetative fairly early on, and it doesn't throw in a large variety of things to do. For example, you'll hardly be faced with more difficult obstacles as the game goes on. Still, it's quite nice that you can just pick up the game and get into it without too much of a hassle at all. There's just not enough of it to go around.

To be fair, Family Guy is probably one of the best video games based off a TV show to ever hit the video game market. Simply because it actually IS the show to begin with. Even though the gameplay has it's sticky spots, the overall presentation makes this worth a buy to just about any and every Family Guy fan. So it really boils itself down to... what are you more of? A hardcore gamer or a Family Guy fan? If you're a bigger gamer than Family Guy fan, then it might not be worth it to shell out the money for this game, and instead might be better to pick up the DVD boxsets. If however, you're a huge Family Guy fan, this is more than worth the money for it's excellent presentation and dedication to the show alone.

The Good

+Let's be honest here, the presentation is absolutely fantastic. It's filled with all the witty dialogue of the show, provided by the writer's themselves with lines delivered by the voice actors themselves. Along those lines, the game looks close to the animation provided within the show itself. This one aspect alone deserves recognition. There are also plenty of inside jokes and references to the actual show itself. This one giant aspect alone warrents the game as a must buy to Family Guy fans.

The Bad

-Another aspect that we have to face. There's little vareity to the game whatsoever, and while it's overall presentation is fantastic, it's hard to say the gameplay will satisfy hardcore gamers who have already played several other games out there that execute its gameplay aspects better than Family Guy does

OVERALL:

It's because of this unusual aspect of the game that I give Family Guy three stars out of five. It's a hit or miss title. One glaring pro over one glaring con.

Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: October 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Seeing as how someone has already reviewed the game pretty completely I will just add to it instead of covering everything

I have to say I am a little disappointed with this game. I love Family Guy and really was looking forward to a fun romp with the characters. However the game emulates the Simpsons poor offerings instead of Beavis and Buttheads hilarious adventure game for the PC.

In my honest opinion the biggest problem with the game is I think it's not finished. Like most games from 2K labs the game seems glitchy and kind of raw instead of the polished products from other marquee studios.

For instance, the graphics are fine but the cut scenes do not mesh at all. I understand if there is loading times however there is no flow. Sometimes a cut scene will happen and it seems to have absolutely no continuity with the game at all.

More so there are plenty of clipping and sight issues. The camera in Brians levels is downright awful since you can't move it and Stewies levels are 3-D so your depth perception gets lost when trying tricky platform jumps. This isn't so bad except when you are jumping over fluids that kill you.

Another sign that the game was poorly tested is the mini games themselves. The games load out of nowhere and offer you about 2 seconds to read the instructions. You then have about another 3 seconds to figure out exactly what you are supposed to do then do it. Some games are easy enough (just hit the button it tells you to, etc...) but others you will fail fast just from the lightning fast reflexes you need from figuring the game out and doing it. This isn't an issue if you die and then go back because over time you will learn it.

That leads me to another issue. You will die in this game. A lot! Brians levels are all trial and error, just learning the board and how to manuever it. Each character is on a set track and like Metal Gear you need to study their movements and run around them without being seen. Sounds easy and it mostly is but it gets old FAST. That is all he does too. Each level is just another set of rooms you need to get through. Some are difficult some are easy. But beyond the odd costume you get there really is no variation to his game.

Peter's levels play like Streets of Rage or Final Fight. A nice retro aspect but Peter's game gets boring quick. He basically can kick and punch. he learns a few additional moves but nothing spectacular. And there really are only 5 different enemies and a couple bosses they are just recycled over and over in different quantities. Also there are only several rooms per level just asthetically changed. Nothing special at all. My biggest gripe with Peter's levels are that they are just freaking hard. Add in monotonous and you have a bad combination. Peter is not very strong and his health is drained fairly quickly. Add in the fact that even when you are attacking an enemy he can still hit you so you are going to take a lot of damage. The difficulty is compunded by the limited supply of health in some rooms and the sheer number of enemies they throw at you at once. In later levels you will fight 5 or more of the harder enemies at once. Two of them can kill you pretty quickly so it just gets super repetative and frustrating after a while. Finally each enemy has a certain way it must be killed making the game even more ridiculous. For instance a kid has to be kicked while adults have to be punched and cops need to be kicked repetatively then stomped and then Swat members need to be swept. This is ok but when you are fighting one of each it means you can only damage certain enemies with punches etc... Thus the game allows you to be beat on far too easily.

Lastly is Stewie's levels. They are the most fun both gameplay wise and comedy wise. Stewie has a couple guns and his game is a pretty standard platform game. Nothing too ridiculous just the same run around shoot the bad guys collect items and open a door. his levels also are pretty much more of the same after a while. What frustrates you about his are the depth deceiving jumps you need to make. Because the camera doesn't rotate you need to make double jumps blind and have to land on smaller platforms below or die. In 3-D it is hard to determine your depth and you will die alot from missing.

I know I am griping a lot about petty gameplay things but honestly it ruins my fun level with the game. The first hour or so was the best for me because the game was more interactive in the beginning and the novelty factor. But about an hour into the game you have done just about everything the game is going to throw at you. Thus let the repetition begin. Peter's levels are way too hard considering the fun ridiculous nature of the game and the general glitches and shoddy appearance/layout of the game shows it was pretty much thrown together quickly and poorly tested. I think with a couple more months in development this game could have been a bigger hit but alas it is a failure in my eyes.

The story istelf is very funny. Lots of recycled gags from the show and some good jokes. It is a bit tamer than the show and there isn't a whole lot of new humor here. I would give this one a miss and rent it. That way you can get rid of it when you get bored.

Only Fun For Fans

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you are a fan of Family Guy, then this game will appeal to you. If you are not a fan, you won't like this game at all. There is nothing that sets it apart from any other title, but there are a lot of jokes that will keep fans laughing. The gameplay is pretty simple to learn, but some of the mission are a little difficult. The graphics are good, and gives it a cartoon feel. I've been playing for a couple of hours, and I'm still not bored of it. I'm probably easier to please than some people, but for fans, this game isn't a total waste of money. If you are not a fan, once again I say, this isn't for you. Not because you can't have it, but only fans would appreciate this game. There are better games than this out there.

FUNNY AND INTERESTING

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: November 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

IVE READ REVIEWS FROM OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS TITLE BUT ACTUALLY I VERY MUCH ENJOYED IT THIS GAME IS VERY VERY HUMOROUS JUST LIKE THE SHOW THE LEVELS ARE
NOT HARD NOT EASY JUST IN BETWEEN FAMILY GUY OUTDID THEMSELVES ON THIS ONE
THIS GAME IS FUN FOR ANYBODY JUST LIKE THE SHOW YOU GOTTA LOVE IT AND ITS NOT A WAIST OF MONEY BECAUSE THE GAME IS ACTUALLY WORTH PLAYING AND GIVES A GOOD LAUGH TO ANYBODY I DEFINITELY WOULD RECOMMEND THIS GAME!!!

The Best out of tv show games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Sure some tv show game a good. But Family Guy, with it's Crazy creaters and writers have hit it. This is the best out of tv show games. Why? Because it's true to the show, it has the voice talents of the original actors, and the story and game was made by the creaters. And another Plus is when you play it. you can also control other characters in the game, like death, Quagimire, Cleveland, Defed Up Greased Guy, Peter's Father & Lois. But You can only control theme in some of Stewie's Levels with his mind control. And another plus is that when you play Peter's levels you get to fight some of the characters that Peter gets fights into some of the shows. This Game is like a lost episode, that you'll never see on TV or DVD. Now lets talk about characters.

Stewie: The game starts out that stewie wants to take over the world, Like Always. But Bertrum his Evil brother is in his way. so Stewie sets out to stop him. So hi can do it himself.

Peter: Meanwhile Peter is watching a Mr. Belveder marathon on his tv station PTV, in the mean time when stewie and bertrum duke it out on the roof of the garage Peter goes out and get clonked on the head. While peter is in the hospitle he wakes up and thinks that Mr. Belveder kidnapped his family and goes out to search for him, Oh, did i tell you he thinks everybody he runs into works for Mr. Belveder. From Children To Old People. In some levels petter will get knocked out and turn into some crazy character from the show.

Brian: Now poor Brian is acussed of getting Sebreez Pregnant again. When Joe takes him to jail Brian Escapes your job is to find out who the real Father is and when you get to brians last level you'll get a suprise. Giggity.

The game is really fun. like some of the other reviewrs say this is basically a game for fans. Oh, just one more thing. Another cool part of the game is you get to actually get to play the cut aways. Each character has a diffrent way off geting out of thier perdicaments. But I'll let you find out for yourself. I hope this review helps.

Annoying

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Title says it all basically. I got pretty far in the game then it froze up and when I went to play it again I had to start over, not only did this happen once it happened twice. Needless to say I gave up on it because I got tired of the Brian parts, very annoying. Definately not worth buying, it's worth renting to entertain for about an hour or 2.

Only For Die-hard Fans of the Show

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Do not buy this game unless you are a die-hard Family Guy fan. I'm not saying that non-fans shouldn't play the game, but I don't think they'll want to play it for long. First, some background information on the game. It has 22 levels. These levels are split up into sections so that your progress can be saved more frequently. This is done automatically.

In the course of the game, you will play as different characters, including Brian, who is my least favorite in this game. The reason why is that every other character that I've played as so far has a way of defending themselves against enemies. Stewie has his ray gun and mind control device. Peter has his hands and feet, but what does Brian have??? NOTHING! The only defense that Brian has in this game is to hide under tables or behind bushes and hope to God that he doesn't get the urge to pee in front of a fire hydrent. Even some of the hardest stelth games like SOCOM or the Tom Clancy serries have ways for you to defend yourself if you are discovered. I know Brian is a dog, but you'd think they would let him bite his enemies, or at least pee on them.

Like the show, the game has jokes and non-sequitters, which are interactive and very funny (Peter's outhouse scene never gets old). However, when you die in the game or get caught multiple times, these jokes get very stale.

I must confess that I am a huge fan of the TV show, and because of that, I was probably being too generous when I gave this game a three star rating :)

Best video game EVER!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is the best video game ever, based on the best TV show ever!!! If you're not a "Family Guy" fan, you probably won't like this game. This game is unapologetically created strictly for fans of the show. This isn't a game that is meant to cater to your ordinary video game fan, but rather to fans of "Family Guy" who enjoy playing video games.

This game plays much like watching an episode of "Family Guy". I cannot think of one FG character that does not appear in this game at some point or another (although now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing Brian's cousin Jasper). Otherwise, if you can think of a Family Guy character, he/she/it is in this game at some point or another in a cameo appearance.

The game plays relatively easy. The controls are easy to figure out and use. Some people have accused this game of being repetitive, but I don't feel that way at all. You basically play as three characters: Stewie, Brian, and Peter. Stewie is the platform "shoot 'em up" ray-gun character. Brian sneaks around...he has no weapons or abilities other than his wit. You basically have to get through mazes without being caught. Peter is your typical street fighter character. Punch, kick, and spin your way through Peter's levels while looking for power ups.

Anyway, if you're a Family Guy fan who likes to play video games, pick this up...you won't be disappointed. If you're just a video game fan but don't like Family Guy all that well, you probably won't like this game.

good game gone bad

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

for the first couple of hours, this game is great. most of the gripes have been said by other reviewers but honestly after a while of playing this game i was so frustrated i wanted to punch whoever made it. boring would be the appropriate word to describe peter and brian's levels and some of stewie's levels are so hard that you have to do each about 15 times to just pass through. if you're a die hard fan of family guy, and if you have extra money to blow on family guy stuff, go for it... if not do yourself a favor and don't buy this game.

Strangely hard!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Just adding to what others have already mentioned - the Peter levels are insanely hard, it's extremely repetative which just makes this game very frustrating. Fun for the Family Guy fans, but don't buy it - rent it.

Ps - why are there no cheat codes for this game?? (yes, it's that hard!)

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