Game Stooge

REVIEW: Wallace & Gromit in Muzzled! (PC/360)

• Scribbled on June 16th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
• Filed in Adventure, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Reviews, Xbox Live Arcade

The third installment of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures finds our beloved duo finding themselves in an altruistic bent – the local dog shelter was destroyed, and have donated their services to a fair run by the seemingly philanthropic dog lover Monty Muzzle by running a booth with Wallace’s latest invention: the Infini-Flavour ice cream truck; put anything in the flavour scanner, and it reproduces it as an ice cream flavour.

However, before the fair can begin, they find themselves invaded by escapees from the shelter, wreaking havoc in their home and ruining the invention.

The only new character in this adventure is the aforementioned Monty Muzzle, though not counting the three dogs that Gromit tries to befriend. It’s a testament to TellTale’s writing that they manage to infuse new personalities – even nonspeaking canine – to an already large cast. Everyone from The Last Resort is back, including Duncan McBiscuit and a cameo of Felicia Flitt’s now-incarcerated Tinkie-Wee and Poogie-Woo.

The game is also the best so far in the series in terms of puzzles as well. Once again, all of the puzzles are logical, but the “signal to noise level” is so great that it isn’t a matter of randomly trying objects with others. Some puzzles are initially brain-boggling, but once the solution is found, it becomes obvious in hindsight. Red herring solutions abound as well, so some seemingly logical answers are incorrect. There are a few “gimmes”, too, but they involve some of the funniest dialogue; indeed, this is also the funniest episode so far as well – try making a fish flavoured ice cream and enjoy Wallace’s reaction. If there is only one complaint, it’s almost entirely devoted to the mute Gromit, so Wallace’s dialogue is limited.

It must be mentioned, however, that the episode ends with one of the most startling cliffhangers in the Wallace & Gromit ethos. The look on Wallace’s face at the conclusion is beyond priceless, and will have most fans giggling, but also intrigued.

The game also had some bad visual glitches, particularly at the end, on a laptop graphic card, so be warned. I hadn’t tried it on a desktop PC, so it’s possible that it was just due to the setup. Otherwise, this is an excellent outing for Wallace and Gromit.