Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: Griptonite Games
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now

It’s a curious thing when a movie-based tie-in game has nothing to do with said movie. But when you want to squeeze every dollar out of a hot property, some things need to happen. Right, bean counters? When you pop in, play and finish Where the Wild Things Are, you might be left scratching your head, saying, “Whhaaa?” Sure, there’s a kid named Max, and he wears a wolf suit. He also navigates his way to a fantasy island inhabited by some kooky-looking “wild things.” But the similarities between the movie and the game end right about there.

If you’ve seen the movie or read the children’s book, you’ve probably asked yourself, “How can anyone make a game out of this?” That’s a great question. And apparently even the developers couldn’t find the answer without a dramatic overhaul of the source material. In the game, you assume the role of Max as he reaches the island. After traversing the landscape and swatting some firebugs here and there, you reach the wild things’ camp. After formal introductions (you accidentally destroy their camp), you spend the next several chapters earning their trust and respect. Eventually Max and the wild things find that black blobs of…blob-like material are destroying the island, so you must race to the moon, which happens to be getting closer and closer to the island.

It sounds as if the writers of the game sat around brainstorming story ideas with the book in one hand and bubble-gum cigarettes in the other. But hey, if you’re not an absolute fanatic about the storylines/themes of the movie or the book, there’s certainly some enjoyment to be had here. Wild Things plays like any other generic 3D platformer/action game. There’s shimmying, jumping, hanging, and even a little flying thrown in for good measure, and it’s all coupled with an effectively simple combat system. It’s not God of War, but it’s more than enough for a little one to be comfortable learning to play.

If developer Griptonite was intent on creating a simple, entertaining game most children could pick up and enjoy, they did their job quite well. You’ll spend most of your time smacking at firebugs and black ooze spiders by mashing on one button, while spending minimal time fighting the controls and camera. To avoid repetition, there are “on-rail” levels in which you hop onto the head of a wild thing as it hurdles and slides around obstacles, which is quite a fun diversion. The game also doesn’t overstay its welcome. With 11 decent-sized chapters, you can complete the main quest in about six hours, longer if you want to search out the plethora of collectible items.

On the downside, the game seems to falter in its technical aspects. The graphics are flat, and the appearance of the wild things certainly loses a lot of the story’s personality in the transition from movie to game. Despite the lack of graphical intensity, the game still tends to chug quite a bit. And while the sound is great in most areas, specifically the music and island ambience, the voice work doesn’t match-up to the voice acting in the movie. The performers do an admirable job, but let’s face it, no one can huff and wheeze like James Gandolfini. Also, the story doesn’t do the original source material justice. All of the characters lack any sort of distinction, especially Max, who only opens his mouth to roar and declare the rumpus. Other characters have completely different personas than their movie counterparts, including Douglas, who is sweet in the movie but is a total jerkface in the game. Nor are there any underlying themes in the game adaptation of “Wild Things,” which is in stark contrast to the movie and the book.

Where the Wild Things Are lacks the charm of its media counterparts, but it makes up for it by catering to its target audience. And considering the depth and (quite frankly) depressing mood of the feature film, concerned parents might find the video game a more suitable alternative for their impressionable children. So while I’d hazard a guess “Wild Things” author Maurice Sendak doesn’t approve of this game all that much, your eight-year-old roaring for the controller in his wolf suit probably will.

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