Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts! review

Kudos must go to the developers Vicarious Visions for actually trying something different for the latest movie tie-in. In this Dreamworks-film-turned-licensed-DS-game, the aim isn't to jump from platform to platform (as you'd expect from a kid-centric game) but instead set up traps and solve various straightforward puzzles. It's a change, but one that doesn't exactly set one's world alight.Plot-wise, it has something to do with our hero Hammy losing his satellite feed and helping some beaver get the tools he needs to build his dream home. It also has something to do with making your own interactive TV channel by playing tricks on some guy called Dwayne. Admittedly, Gamestyle couldn't really be bothered to understand what was going on, and the game doesn't go out of its way to make it any clearer (all this plot information we got from the instruction booklet).What first causes surprise is how good it actually looks. Instead of doing a rush job and giving us graphics straight from the GBA, the developers have actually made the effort in creating a good 3D world with characters that look far better than what you would expect. The top down perspective helps in viewing the area, but also making sure the graphics don't degenerate into a mess of colours and anti-aliasing issues. Also, through this viewpoint you use the touch screen instead of the standard D-pad to control your character - a good idea that would have worked if the touch screen controls weren't broken. Touching the screen where you want Hammy to go is how you control the 'lovable' squirrel, but touching items which you want Hammy to interact with is a hit and miss affair (normally the latter), causing much confusion as you watch Hammy get stuck to objects instead of actually picking them up. It's a good job that you don't have any enemies to face, otherwise the whole game would become a disaster.The first level is surprisingly well thought out, introducing some clever ideas in the way in which you grab items around the environment and drop them in the designated space to create traps; the outcome is especially interesting. Gamestyle eagerly anticipated the next treat, but the problem was, that was it. In the first level you will be shown pretty much everything you will see in the whole game and you have around another twenty more levels to complete in the same vein.Each level is split up into two separate stages. Firstly, you have the break in; here you have to use items scattered around outside to aid you in breaking into someone's house. Like the rest of the game, it's very straightforward; once you pick up an item, the map on the top screen shows you where it should be put, making the game incredibly linear with little need for exploration and every single item shown on the map screen. Then, once you manage to break in, it's the exact same thing again, only this time you have to grab items to set up a prank. Tedium will soon set in and even watching the pranks played out at the end of each level will hardly amuse. Along with the constant looping music, we were ready to throw the game away before reaching fifty percent completion. By the end of it all - much like our protagonist - we were going nuts.Over the Hedge is a game that could have very well changed our perception of what to expect in these kids' movie tie-ins; however, after a promising start, it soon became apparent that we were still heading into an average and linear experience, and that's ultimately all that's on offer here. It's no wonder movie tie-ins get such a bad reputation.