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Although some among us might scoff at the idea, Disney and Pixar’s Ratatouille has, despite all the comic book and toy-based heavy hitters, proven itself to be the best movie of the summer. Unfortunately, like Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Transformers, and other recent movie-based games, Ratatouille fares substantially less well on the interactive front.

Rats!

The game follows the general plot of the movie. It’s an endearing story of an American-sounding rat named Remy in the provincial French countryside who has dreams far above those of normal rats. Despite his family’s disapproval, Remy wants nothing more than to become a great chef and show that food is more than just whatever garbage you find in the trash. Things go bad and he is separated from his clan, and finds himself in Paris and finally able to pursue his dreams. Of course, nothing is ever simple in life, and Remy soon finds himself in plenty of trouble. With his chef hero, Auguste Gusteau, as his mental guide, and Skinner, Gusteau’s vile ex-partner, as the main villain, along with a bumbling human sidekick and a world that has no love for rodents; Remy has his hands full.

Taking no chances and adding story padding for the sake of lengthening the gameplay (and providing an excuse for weird mini-games and pointless chase sequences) is the de rigueur of licensed games, so it’s almost hard to fault Ratatouille for these standards. And if that had been the extent of the problems, maybe the game would prove passable as an entirely unremarkable platformer that got by on the strength of its cute little rat characters. Regrettably, the big problems that keep the game from even reaching middling entertainment value are mostly control issues.

Join the Rat Race

Taking place over six fairly sizable areas, the game is divided into about twenty different missions. You can run around the open world finding hot spots that lead to a new activity, and kids will certainly like the illusion of freedom this design gives. Most of the game involves the running, jumping, swinging, tight rope walking, climbing, and other old standards. Since the main character is a rat, the game rightfully tries to enunciate just how nimble the little fella is, and there are some reasonably creative obstacle courses.

Unfortunately, most of the game simply feels like a rat race. Whether it’s a time race, a chase sequence, or a simple item hunt; it all tends to feel distinctly like a chore. The fact that the controls are so poorly designed only makes things worse. For whatever reason, to catch ledges, climb walls, or balance; you have to jump and press the B button. Why jumping is required instead of Remy automatically running up a wall or onto a tight robe, or just intelligently hitting the next balance point is a huge issue. What’s worse is that it is so hard to accurately aim Remy’s jumps that you’ll die more times due to frustratingly missed jumps than anything else.

Hit Non-detection Issues

Ironically, during chase sequences, you’ll have the opposite problems. These portions of the game usually require you to quickly avoid an angry human, while also jumping or sidestepping landscape obstacles. Yet, it’s far too easy to get hung up on the obstacles even when it looks like you cleared it. These problems with hit detection smack of lazy design and suck most of the joy out of Ratatouille.

On the bright side, the game uses some of the actors from the movie—especially Patton Oswald as Remy—and the voice acting is quite good. Overall, the audio is well done. The graphics are sketchier. Though the rats look good, with nice fur effects, and the game isn’t bad looking; it’s clear that this is a cross-platform game. The visuals look as if they certainly could just as easily be on a regular Xbox.

Great Movie, Mediocre Game

Ratatouille doesn’t do anything to avoid the curse of licensed games, and the Xbox 360 version feels especially unfinished thanks to the horrible hit detection issues. If you have a patient child, they might be able to deal with the frustration of missed jumps and obstacle problems. In general, this is yet another lame attempt to cash in on a movie. Unfortunately, like those others, this game could have been a lot more had anyone bothered to put some effort into it.

Article by: Jason D'Aprile