Game Stooge

REVIEW: Wallace & Gromit in The Last Resort (PC/360)

• Scribbled on May 5th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
• Filed in Adventure, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Reviews, Xbox Live Arcade

The second episode of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures is out, and takes our duo from raising bees to starting their own beach resort – in their basement, no less – in Wallace & Gromit in The Last Resort. As usual, Wallace comes up with an ill-conceived get-rich-quick scheme and his faithful mute dog Gromit has to somehow bail him out.

The story begins as the residents of West Wallaby Street bemoan the stormy weather that’s scotched their summer plans, and generally create a mood as wet as their heads. Wallace decides that if he and Gromit can’t go to the beach and soak in the sun, they’d bring the beach to themselves. He quickly realizes he could make money selling tickets to his underground seaside resort, complete with a faux carnival. Things take a dark turn when someone gets “thumped”, and soon the story transforms into a whodunit in a lonely house on a dark and stormy night.

The Last Resort has its own pros and cons when compared to its predecessor. The story is divided into four parts; the first episode is fairly easy, as it serves as an introduction to the characters who interact with the pair; most are holdovers from Fright of the Bumblebees, including Felicia Flitt, Mr. Paneer, Major Crum, Mrs. Gabberley and everyone’s favorite beaurocratic policeman, Constable Dibbins. In this episode, we’re introduced to preening bully Duncan McBiscuit, who shares most of his personality with Gaston from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Also new to the game are Flitt’s doggies, Poogie-Woo and Tinkie-Wee, who take an instant dislike to Gromit, but are babied by their owner.

The Last Resort has sort of a disconnect from the first game; the cliffhanger of Fright is never acknowledged, and the opening credits are quick and rushed, unlike the leisurely opening of the previous game. However, the puzzles in the second, third and fourth parts of Resort are better, and less straightforward than Fright. While a gamer following the story will figure out what they should do, it feels a lot more complex. The fourth part is the briefest of any of the segments, but it’s also one of the more devious puzzles, in which the player is given a lot of possibilities to have to sort through. The answers are surprisingly logical, but don’t present themselves at all.

If there’s a problem, the dialogue just doesn’t have the same snap til the second and third acts, when the real detective work begins – and there are some laugh-out-loud moments. Part of it is that there are more characters in a single space, and it doesn’t allow Wallace to be Wallace as much as the first game, where he dealt with cheese and having to try to point out a teabag on Felicia’s bosom. It is a delight, however, to learn more about the characters and their quirks, such as Mr. Paneer’s love of sand castles and cotton candy candy floss. Constable Dibbins once again shines, especially during his “investigation” of the “thumping”.

Technically, The Last Resort has issues. There is a lot of audio glitching, especially when many characters are talking. There’s some odd graphical problems that sometimes happen while playing in windowed mode, especially when taking screenshots.

Overall, it’s a solid effort. The game time is roughly 1-2 hours longer than the first chapter’s. The puzzles are better, but the story feels a little less like a true Wallace & Gromit tale, and is less coherent that Fright. It’s also disappointing that the player never has to solve the end problem of Fright. Still and all, it’ll be a very long month to wait for Muzzled, the third game in Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures.

You can read the Fright of the Bumblebees review here.