Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Review
By: |
August 18, 2010, 11:04 pm
GameXplain reviews single player and multiplayer separately
A nerd love-in gone slightly awry
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World should have been great. After hearing all the positive buzz about the game, seeing the excellent movie, and reading Anamanaguchi nonstop tweets about their soundtrack, I pretty much figured that the game was in the bag as far as its quality was concerned. It’s too bad then that the single-player experience ended up being so straightforward and even dull at times.
Those unfamiliar with the Scott Pilgrim brand must not be paying too much attention to what’s going on in the nerd world, as the movie and game have been getting nonstop hype for months now. If you’re still scratching your head, then pretty much all you need to know is that the titular character is 22, his rating is “awesome,” and he’s gonna have to fight the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers. It’s a premise that works well in the movie and comic, and should have translated well to the game, but unfortunately the gameplay just isn’t as clever as the set-up.
.jpg)
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is your classic beat-em-up. Players progress form left to right laying the smackdown on a near endless stream of random thugs and bullies as they work their way through the levels. The only real twist on this standard formula is that the game follows the excellent plotline of the movie, and thus each end-level boss is one of Ramona’s exes. This adds at least a little variety to the experience, as some of the boss fights were actually pretty interesting. Most of them were all too easy though, and again the gameplay during these fights wasn’t as cool as their presentation.
The game has a rudimentary level-up system in place, though it isn’t all that exciting and is mostly limited to stat increases and new skill unlocks. Still, it did add a little bit to the game, as the ability progression steadily ramped up and Scott (or your character of choice) became more and more of a badass. There was also some in-game currency (again cleverly tied into the movie), that I could use to purchase upgrades and healing items. These upgrades were actually essential for beating the game, as I found that my character just didn’t develop the necessary stats without them. The flavor of this whole system was pretty great, as I had to head to the shopping district and stop off at a bunch of stores along the way to get what I needed. Again, this was a welcome addition to the game, it just wasn’t developed enough, and actually made the grinding in the game more apparent, as I struggled to collect the required money to purchase the better upgrades.
Ok, so the gameplay when going at it alone isn’t the best, but what about the rest of the package? It’s here that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game really shines. The audio design in the game is as impeccable as in the movie (maybe even moreso) with a great assortment of oldschool bleeps and bloops backing up the killer soundtrack by Anamanaguchi. I have long lauded the hipster musical outfit for their awesome throwback sound, but even I wasn’t prepared for how great their music would sound in an actual game. After hearing one of my favorite songs by them on the title screen in Bit.Trip Runner (Blackout City), I was impressed at how far they’ve come in recent years, though the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World soundtrack blows that one song away handily. Every song is perfectly crafted to evoke memories of huddling front of a television with my friends beating the snot out of every random crackhead, rapist, or Foot Soldier that came our way. This was a huge boon to the classic vibe that the game was shooting for, and something that drew me in, even when the gameplay was getting a tad repetitive.
Besides the stellar music, much of the rest of the game helps to convey this retro feel that the developers were aiming for. The visuals are nicely pixelated, without seeming low-res, and there are a number of one-shot events that reference classic games or gaming tropes. Players might find themselves beating up a car (ala Street Fighter II), roaming a world map complete with Warp Pipes (ala Super Mario Bros 3), or battling Kefka on a mountaintop. There are dozens of more sly references like those sprinkled throughout the experience, and they really help to evoke the feelings of nerd-love that are so prevalent in the movie and comic series.
Ultimately, the singleplayer experience presented in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World just wasn’t quite compelling enough to keep pace with its awesome source material. The game is also purportedly quite buggy, though honestly in my two playthroughs, I hardly saw any noticeable glitches. I did enjoy my time with the game somewhat, but the experience just suffered from too many issues with imbalance and a lack of variety. Though much of the game is clearly a love letter to geek culture, the actual core gameplay mechanics just can’t support how clever everything else about the title was.
Those unfamiliar with the Scott Pilgrim brand must not be paying too much attention to what’s going on in the nerd world, as the movie and game have been getting nonstop hype for months now. If you’re still scratching your head, then pretty much all you need to know is that the titular character is 22, his rating is “awesome,” and he’s gonna have to fight the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers. It’s a premise that works well in the movie and comic, and should have translated well to the game, but unfortunately the gameplay just isn’t as clever as the set-up.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is your classic beat-em-up. Players progress form left to right laying the smackdown on a near endless stream of random thugs and bullies as they work their way through the levels. The only real twist on this standard formula is that the game follows the excellent plotline of the movie, and thus each end-level boss is one of Ramona’s exes. This adds at least a little variety to the experience, as some of the boss fights were actually pretty interesting. Most of them were all too easy though, and again the gameplay during these fights wasn’t as cool as their presentation.
The game has a rudimentary level-up system in place, though it isn’t all that exciting and is mostly limited to stat increases and new skill unlocks. Still, it did add a little bit to the game, as the ability progression steadily ramped up and Scott (or your character of choice) became more and more of a badass. There was also some in-game currency (again cleverly tied into the movie), that I could use to purchase upgrades and healing items. These upgrades were actually essential for beating the game, as I found that my character just didn’t develop the necessary stats without them. The flavor of this whole system was pretty great, as I had to head to the shopping district and stop off at a bunch of stores along the way to get what I needed. Again, this was a welcome addition to the game, it just wasn’t developed enough, and actually made the grinding in the game more apparent, as I struggled to collect the required money to purchase the better upgrades.
Ok, so the gameplay when going at it alone isn’t the best, but what about the rest of the package? It’s here that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game really shines. The audio design in the game is as impeccable as in the movie (maybe even moreso) with a great assortment of oldschool bleeps and bloops backing up the killer soundtrack by Anamanaguchi. I have long lauded the hipster musical outfit for their awesome throwback sound, but even I wasn’t prepared for how great their music would sound in an actual game. After hearing one of my favorite songs by them on the title screen in Bit.Trip Runner (Blackout City), I was impressed at how far they’ve come in recent years, though the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World soundtrack blows that one song away handily. Every song is perfectly crafted to evoke memories of huddling front of a television with my friends beating the snot out of every random crackhead, rapist, or Foot Soldier that came our way. This was a huge boon to the classic vibe that the game was shooting for, and something that drew me in, even when the gameplay was getting a tad repetitive.
Besides the stellar music, much of the rest of the game helps to convey this retro feel that the developers were aiming for. The visuals are nicely pixelated, without seeming low-res, and there are a number of one-shot events that reference classic games or gaming tropes. Players might find themselves beating up a car (ala Street Fighter II), roaming a world map complete with Warp Pipes (ala Super Mario Bros 3), or battling Kefka on a mountaintop. There are dozens of more sly references like those sprinkled throughout the experience, and they really help to evoke the feelings of nerd-love that are so prevalent in the movie and comic series.
Ultimately, the singleplayer experience presented in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World just wasn’t quite compelling enough to keep pace with its awesome source material. The game is also purportedly quite buggy, though honestly in my two playthroughs, I hardly saw any noticeable glitches. I did enjoy my time with the game somewhat, but the experience just suffered from too many issues with imbalance and a lack of variety. Though much of the game is clearly a love letter to geek culture, the actual core gameplay mechanics just can’t support how clever everything else about the title was.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game was clearly designed with its four player co-op in mind, and it’s here that the game starts to come together. Though much of the mechanics of the singleplayer experience make it over to multiplayer intact, they are somehow made more interesting by the addition of other players.
Co-op gaming is my preferred method of multiplayer interaction. In fact, lately I think I even prefer it to classic single-player experiences. Games are just more fun when they are social in nature, and Scott Pilgrim’s fun factor is greatly increased by this fact. On top of that, the flaws with imbalance and grinding are less apparent when you have someone else by your side helping you kick ass. Players can play with up to three other companions (hearkening back to Konami coin-op beat-em-ups like The Simpson or X-Men), and it’s just as much fun as you’d think it would be.
There are a smattering of additions to the multiplayer component in the game including the combo Rock and Roll attacks, a focus on reviving fallen comrades, and the ability to “borrow” money from one of your compatriots. These minor additions are welcome, though the only one you’ll likely be making that much use of is the revive ability, as it’s almost essential in surviving some of the later stages unless you grind for lives on the earlier levels.
The same love of nerd culture that you see in the singleplayer game is there in the multiplayer component, though it’s kind of more fun to discover those awesome references with your nerdy-ass friends sitting around the television with you. It was during those moments that the game most reminded me of all the amazing times I had playing beat-em-up games with my friends when I was a kid.
Though there isn’t any online multiplayer to speak of in the title, I honestly didn’t care one bit. In fact, I kind of prefer it this way, as odd as that may sound. At the very least, for a title like this, if I have to choose between possibly playing with some of my friends online and playing with them sitting next to me, I’d choose the latter every time. When compared to another recently released retro-styled game, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, I’d have to say that Scott Pilgrim’s multiplayer is the more fun of the two by far, and mostly because it is local co-op instead of online.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was clearly designed with co-op in mind as the primary way of progressing through the title. This mode actually gives players a good amount of fun, which overshadows many of the flaws that quickly become apparent if you’re grinding your way through the experience on your own. I’m thankful that this multiplayer component made it into the game, as without it, this title would be fairly forgettable, but bringing friends along on the ride changes all that, and for the better.
Co-op gaming is my preferred method of multiplayer interaction. In fact, lately I think I even prefer it to classic single-player experiences. Games are just more fun when they are social in nature, and Scott Pilgrim’s fun factor is greatly increased by this fact. On top of that, the flaws with imbalance and grinding are less apparent when you have someone else by your side helping you kick ass. Players can play with up to three other companions (hearkening back to Konami coin-op beat-em-ups like The Simpson or X-Men), and it’s just as much fun as you’d think it would be.
There are a smattering of additions to the multiplayer component in the game including the combo Rock and Roll attacks, a focus on reviving fallen comrades, and the ability to “borrow” money from one of your compatriots. These minor additions are welcome, though the only one you’ll likely be making that much use of is the revive ability, as it’s almost essential in surviving some of the later stages unless you grind for lives on the earlier levels.
The same love of nerd culture that you see in the singleplayer game is there in the multiplayer component, though it’s kind of more fun to discover those awesome references with your nerdy-ass friends sitting around the television with you. It was during those moments that the game most reminded me of all the amazing times I had playing beat-em-up games with my friends when I was a kid.
Though there isn’t any online multiplayer to speak of in the title, I honestly didn’t care one bit. In fact, I kind of prefer it this way, as odd as that may sound. At the very least, for a title like this, if I have to choose between possibly playing with some of my friends online and playing with them sitting next to me, I’d choose the latter every time. When compared to another recently released retro-styled game, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, I’d have to say that Scott Pilgrim’s multiplayer is the more fun of the two by far, and mostly because it is local co-op instead of online.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was clearly designed with co-op in mind as the primary way of progressing through the title. This mode actually gives players a good amount of fun, which overshadows many of the flaws that quickly become apparent if you’re grinding your way through the experience on your own. I’m thankful that this multiplayer component made it into the game, as without it, this title would be fairly forgettable, but bringing friends along on the ride changes all that, and for the better.
Just The Facts
Boxart
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Studios
Genre: Brawler, Action
Release: August 10, 2010
Available On: PlayStation Network (PS3), Xbox Live Marketplace
Background Check: Micah
I have always been a fan of side-scrolling beat-em-ups. From Double Dragon to Streets of Rage to Final Fight to TMNT, beat-em-ups were once upon a time my gaming bread and butter. I haven’t actually read the Scott Pilgrim comics, but I loved the movie, and like pretty much all of the geekery dealt with there and in the game itself. Furthermore, Anamanaguchi is my all-time favorite chiptunes band, so I was pretty excited to check out their tunes in the game.
Similar Experiences:
Double Dragon - Loved it
Streets of Rage - Loved it
Final Fight - Liked it
TMNT: The Arcade Game - Loved it
Anamanaguchi - Love them
Similar Experiences:
Double Dragon - Loved it
Streets of Rage - Loved it
Final Fight - Liked it
TMNT: The Arcade Game - Loved it
Anamanaguchi - Love them
