Does Bear Grylls have the survival skills to survive console gaming?
Crave Games gives gamers a chance to live like Bear Grylls from Discovery Channels, Man vs. Wild. Players will be dropped off in extreme wildlife conditions and will have to trap animals, eat bugs, build shelters and even fight dehydration in the Sahara Desert. It makes for great t.v., but how is it as a game?
Man vs. Wild Features
•Explore the harshest enviroments on Earth as world renowned survival expert Bear Grylls
•Use actual survival techniques and gain survival knowledge for real life situations
•Take on the toughest Mother Nature has to offter including unpredictable weather, wild animal encounters and vast landscapes
•Experience massive variety from numerous Survival Challenges, 100's of collectables, unlockable content and achievements to earn
•Traverse the most treacherous terrain, build shelter, hunt for food - all while maintaining Bears vital signs
Man vs. Wild The game has a total of 6 stages to complete. The first level, Base Camp, acts as your tutorial level. Base Camp will teach you how to do everything you need to know to survive in the wild, from building shelter, catching fish with your bare hands, and even skydiving. Once Base Camp has been completed you will then have 5 episodes to choose from: Rocky Mountains, The Everglades, The Sahara, A Deserted Island, and Patagonia.
After being dropped off by airplane at the start of each episode you will be given a set of Mission Objectives that can be accessed at anytime by pressing Up on the D-pad. There are two types of objectives to complete. The main Missioin Objectives are what you have to complete in order to survive to make it to the extraction point. These objectives can be anything from navagating a raging river to seeking shelter in a sandstorm. The Secondary Objectives can range from finding all the wild animals in the Rocky Mountains to finding all the sunken boats in the Everglades. Once the objectives are complete you will earn badges and unlock bonus content, which is just clips and photos from the television show.
On your quest for survival Bear will be able to find things in the wilderness that he will be able to use as tools to help in survive. Bear will be able to spear fish by combining a birds beak with a stick, make snow shoes by tying sticks together or making a torch to see in dark caves. By adding this simple element to the game it not only breaks up the tedium of getting from point A to point but also helps to immerse the player in the game.
As you accomplish tasks and collect things you will gain experience points to level up Bear Grylls. Once you obtain a new level you will be given a choice to upgrade things like Bears hydration level or to be able to survive in certain weather conditions for a longer period of time. This also helps to unlock videos, photos that can be viewed at the main menu.
The graphics are probably the games biggest downfall. While the graphics aren't terrible they definately aren't the best. The game looks like a high end original Xbox game although some of the textures look like they are from the PS1 era and also has some occasional screan tearing. The game also has its moments when the visuals just work, like while climbing a mountain side in the Rockies during a thunderstorm. The rain makes the rock look very slick and dangerous making the player a little more cautious. Unfortunately the bad out wiegh the good.
When it comes to the controls they are simple. Maybe a little to simple. Almost every action Bear performs is through quick time events. While it works very well most players would prefer to fight off an attack by a cobra or a puma themselves rather than watch it play out through button prompts that appear on the screen. While the controls may be a little simple they are very responsive letting the player perform tasks very fluidly.
The sound in the game gets the job done but it has nothing that is memorable. Everything sounds like its suppose to. Forests have the sounds of wildlife, deserts have the roaring sounds of sandstorms, the rumbling sound of an active volcano. Everything sounds real and believable but its just nothing that players haven't heard before. Where the sound really shines is the commentary that Bear Grylls provides throughout each level. As a player ventures through each area Bear will guide you and tell you about area will interesting facts and humor and really makes the game feel like an espisode of the television show. At the end of each episode you will be given a quiz on the info that Bear provided during his commentary for a chance to earn extra experience points. Overall the sound gets the job done.
PROS
•Captures the spirit of the show nicely
•Bear Grylls narration
•Lots a variety.
•Good amount of collectables and unlockables.
CONS
•Graphics
•Only 6 Levels
•The levels are to linear
OVERALL
While Man vs. Wild: The Game may be more geared towards fans of the show alot of fun can still be had if you can overlook a few of the gameplay and graphical flaws. Man vs. Wild: The Game may not be the perfect game but it does give us plenty of things we haven't seen before and that alone should be enough to make people pick it up.
Review copy provided by the Publisher.
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