Shark Tale
We go hands-on with Activision and Dreamworks' newest videogame partnership.
Published: August 22, 2004
We all know by now how badly licensed games usually turn out. Sure, there are the rare occasions when the marriage of big screen resources and quality development births something genuinely fun (like, say the Lord of the Rings games), but by and large we're treated to something like Catwoman or [i]Terminator 3; utter schlock that's usually not worth the plastic it was burned onto.
As mentioned before with EA and New Line's Lord of the Rings partnership, however, the tide is turning -- albeit slowly -- and there's still plenty of room for quality games based on lucrative properties. Activision seems rather keen on this, and the house the Tony Hawk built is trying to muscle in on EA's territory, kicking out decent (if average) offerings like Shrek 2. Their latest, Shark Tale, tries its damndest to wring out some quality (and downright varied) gameplay from the license, and after a little hands-on time, it's looking like they may have something.
For those that aren't clued into Dreamworks Animation's latest don't-call-us-Pixar CG film, Shark Tale is the story of Oscar, a little fish with big plans to move beyond his menial whale-cleaning duties. When he runs into Lenny, a cuddly vegetarian great white shark who just happens to be the son of the nastiest aquatic great white mob boss to inhabit the briny deep, the two make a deal: Oscar will "slay" Lenny in a public place, while helping the shark go into hiding. Oscar gets fame and fortune, and Lenny finds a convenient way to avoid succeeding his father in the... message family business.
Of course, things don't go as planned, as "killing" the son of a shark mobster apparently doesn't make him too happy. Oscar has to find a way to avoid getting whacked, while Lenny either needs to go into hiding forever, or confront dear old dad about his less carnivorous tendencies and, um, lifestyle.
The game, more or less sticks to this storyline -- or at least what we've seen of it. The early build offered only a handful of levels and a smattering of pre-rendered sequences to help set each scene, so things were taken a bit out of context, but it did give us a good idea of what to expect in the way of gameplay. Shark Tale's biggest plus is definitely in the variety of ways the levels are presented.
Upon firing up the first level, we were instantly dropped into a chase scene where Oscar has to outrun a shark, darting to one of the four sides of the screen to avoid a toothy kiss from the chasing great white. While it was rather easy, the sequence was impressively fun, with tight, clean controls and great visuals.
From there, the game jumped ahead a few levels to the next little bit of variety. After getting pulled aside by a news reporter, Oscar decides to show off exactly what he'd do stave off the threat of rumored approaching sharks, which transitions into a dancing showcase (complete with support for a dance mat if you happen to have one) that's a bit more Britney's Dance Beat than Dance Dance Revolution. Arrows swing clockwise around a circle, and when they finally reach the bottom, you hit the corresponding direction. Simple, sure, but the accompaniment of M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" is an amusing bonus.
All this dancing nabs the attention of Oscar's boss, which serves at the gateway to the next level, a race through the fish-filled city. While relatively easy, the race does serve as a nice catalyst for immersion into the world. The race is on rails, sure, but there's quite a bit of detail in the schools of fish, coral housing outcroppings and various effects.
From here the game moves into what is probably the best executed chunk of gameplay: a stealthy swim around a sunken ship and dining room filled with sharks. The combination of tight controls and incredibly clean graphics coupled with some fantastic level design add quite a bit the whole experience. Aside from being able to make short dashes with the square button, Oscar can hide behind a couple predetermined objects in the level to avoid being seen. Swimming a full circle around glowing pearls will cause them to explode into smaller pearls which net a little cash, the use of which we haven't really seen yet beyond increasing the apparently non-working Fame meter.
The next section was probably the weakest, a boxing match with a chasing hammerhead, similar to the first level. The controls (left analog stick to dodge up, down, left or right; square for a left punch, circle for a right, triangle to uppercut and X to taunt) just felt too sluggish, and there was no sensation of the punches actually landing, causing a frustrating cycle of getting snapped at and then swinging at air (or, in this case, water). Should Oscar actually connect enough times, it dazes the hammerhead and allows for a couple seconds of free punches, but the whole sequence was rather hard. Activision claims the difficulty is being tweaked right now, so we'll hope this section is cleaned up a bit.
The final section of the game offered an interesting twist on the stealth formula earlier on. Oscar has to explore a shopping center (complete with deep-sea twists on familiar stores and brands like The Home Depot and Coca-Cola) in search of four items to disguise Lenny. This far into the game, however, Oscar is rather well-known, so the paparazzi is out trying to snap photos. If the cameraman snaps three shots, the level's over.
What interesting is how they managed to work this mechanic into the game, choosing to show the level through the photographer's lens. If the cameraman manages to keep Oscar in view for about five seconds or so, he'll snap a shot, but there are plenty of hiding spots in tufts of kelp growing out of the spots all over the level. It essentially becomes a dash from one hiding spot to another to get to the stores and buy the disguise pieces. Not too tough, really, but still rather fun.
Shark Tale so far seems to be shaping up surprisingly well. Developer Edge of Reality seems adept at throwing a handful of different gameplay styles into a game that is perfectly suited to handle them. From what we played (and keep in mind this is still an early build with limited access to the overall game), nothing seemed forced or at all out of place in the undersea world. Tight controls (save for that iffy boxing bit), fantastic graphics (though there were some framerate dips, this is, again, rather early) and some great attention to detail in things like animation could mean Activision could have a bone-fide hit here, and -- gasp -- one that actually does justice to the movie it's based on.
PSX2.com will, as always, have plenty of updates as they come in, including the usual wealth of screens and movies to check out in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for more goodies.
As mentioned before with EA and New Line's Lord of the Rings partnership, however, the tide is turning -- albeit slowly -- and there's still plenty of room for quality games based on lucrative properties. Activision seems rather keen on this, and the house the Tony Hawk built is trying to muscle in on EA's territory, kicking out decent (if average) offerings like Shrek 2. Their latest, Shark Tale, tries its damndest to wring out some quality (and downright varied) gameplay from the license, and after a little hands-on time, it's looking like they may have something.
For those that aren't clued into Dreamworks Animation's latest don't-call-us-Pixar CG film, Shark Tale is the story of Oscar, a little fish with big plans to move beyond his menial whale-cleaning duties. When he runs into Lenny, a cuddly vegetarian great white shark who just happens to be the son of the nastiest aquatic great white mob boss to inhabit the briny deep, the two make a deal: Oscar will "slay" Lenny in a public place, while helping the shark go into hiding. Oscar gets fame and fortune, and Lenny finds a convenient way to avoid succeeding his father in the... message family business.
Of course, things don't go as planned, as "killing" the son of a shark mobster apparently doesn't make him too happy. Oscar has to find a way to avoid getting whacked, while Lenny either needs to go into hiding forever, or confront dear old dad about his less carnivorous tendencies and, um, lifestyle.
The game, more or less sticks to this storyline -- or at least what we've seen of it. The early build offered only a handful of levels and a smattering of pre-rendered sequences to help set each scene, so things were taken a bit out of context, but it did give us a good idea of what to expect in the way of gameplay. Shark Tale's biggest plus is definitely in the variety of ways the levels are presented.
Upon firing up the first level, we were instantly dropped into a chase scene where Oscar has to outrun a shark, darting to one of the four sides of the screen to avoid a toothy kiss from the chasing great white. While it was rather easy, the sequence was impressively fun, with tight, clean controls and great visuals.
From there, the game jumped ahead a few levels to the next little bit of variety. After getting pulled aside by a news reporter, Oscar decides to show off exactly what he'd do stave off the threat of rumored approaching sharks, which transitions into a dancing showcase (complete with support for a dance mat if you happen to have one) that's a bit more Britney's Dance Beat than Dance Dance Revolution. Arrows swing clockwise around a circle, and when they finally reach the bottom, you hit the corresponding direction. Simple, sure, but the accompaniment of M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" is an amusing bonus.
All this dancing nabs the attention of Oscar's boss, which serves at the gateway to the next level, a race through the fish-filled city. While relatively easy, the race does serve as a nice catalyst for immersion into the world. The race is on rails, sure, but there's quite a bit of detail in the schools of fish, coral housing outcroppings and various effects.
From here the game moves into what is probably the best executed chunk of gameplay: a stealthy swim around a sunken ship and dining room filled with sharks. The combination of tight controls and incredibly clean graphics coupled with some fantastic level design add quite a bit the whole experience. Aside from being able to make short dashes with the square button, Oscar can hide behind a couple predetermined objects in the level to avoid being seen. Swimming a full circle around glowing pearls will cause them to explode into smaller pearls which net a little cash, the use of which we haven't really seen yet beyond increasing the apparently non-working Fame meter.
The next section was probably the weakest, a boxing match with a chasing hammerhead, similar to the first level. The controls (left analog stick to dodge up, down, left or right; square for a left punch, circle for a right, triangle to uppercut and X to taunt) just felt too sluggish, and there was no sensation of the punches actually landing, causing a frustrating cycle of getting snapped at and then swinging at air (or, in this case, water). Should Oscar actually connect enough times, it dazes the hammerhead and allows for a couple seconds of free punches, but the whole sequence was rather hard. Activision claims the difficulty is being tweaked right now, so we'll hope this section is cleaned up a bit.
The final section of the game offered an interesting twist on the stealth formula earlier on. Oscar has to explore a shopping center (complete with deep-sea twists on familiar stores and brands like The Home Depot and Coca-Cola) in search of four items to disguise Lenny. This far into the game, however, Oscar is rather well-known, so the paparazzi is out trying to snap photos. If the cameraman snaps three shots, the level's over.
What interesting is how they managed to work this mechanic into the game, choosing to show the level through the photographer's lens. If the cameraman manages to keep Oscar in view for about five seconds or so, he'll snap a shot, but there are plenty of hiding spots in tufts of kelp growing out of the spots all over the level. It essentially becomes a dash from one hiding spot to another to get to the stores and buy the disguise pieces. Not too tough, really, but still rather fun.
Shark Tale so far seems to be shaping up surprisingly well. Developer Edge of Reality seems adept at throwing a handful of different gameplay styles into a game that is perfectly suited to handle them. From what we played (and keep in mind this is still an early build with limited access to the overall game), nothing seemed forced or at all out of place in the undersea world. Tight controls (save for that iffy boxing bit), fantastic graphics (though there were some framerate dips, this is, again, rather early) and some great attention to detail in things like animation could mean Activision could have a bone-fide hit here, and -- gasp -- one that actually does justice to the movie it's based on.
PSX2.com will, as always, have plenty of updates as they come in, including the usual wealth of screens and movies to check out in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for more goodies.
