The Simpsons Game (EA Games)

We were so hyped up about The Simpsons Game. As a big fan of the show, we wanted another chance to romp around in our favourite fictional city with our favourite animated family!

Unfortunately, while the game does some things right, it's lacklustre in some key areas, which keeps it from being the end-all, be-all Simpsons game that we wanted it to be.

Jeebus would be ashamed...

First off, the controls suck. We mean, they really suck. They suck so bad that they often detracted from the on-screen fun. For instance, each character has, in one form or another, a type of targeting system -- Marge uses hers to aim her megaphone while Bart uses his to aim his slingshot. Unfortunately, the control scheme never works reliably, and having to deal with unresponsive controls and bad targeting drained the fun out of moments in which we were actually enjoying the hilarious mission we were on. Had the developers took more time to polish the controls, we'd be treated to a much finer gaming experience. Compounding the issue was the fact that many of the missions were time based, and we would repeatedly fail missions just because of the controls.

Lights! Camera! Inaction!

Secondly, the camera is god-awful. This is a problem common to these types of games, but you would figure a powerhouse company like EA wouldn't make such a blatant mistake. There were far too many instances when my view of the action was completely blocked and attempting to fix the angle only made things worse. If it weren't for the amazing visuals and smooth frame-rate, we would've completely given up on the game.

Though, those awesome graphics were traded for ridiculous load times. Sure, we've come to expect a short wait when, say, a mission is loading but to have to endure through lag after switching out characters is ridiculous.

Welcome to Springfailed

The biggest tragedy is that The Simpsons Game is a decent title, and had these major issues been addressed, it would have fared much better. Springfield and all its denizens are recreated faithfully and the free-roaming, GTA-like mission structure gives you the opportunity to just walk around and take in the sights.

The game's story is also brilliant, thanks to some great writing. Seriously, if the animated show still had writing this good, I'd feel more compelled to actually watch it on a regular basis.