Family Guy - Xbox (XB), PC, Playstation 2 (PS2), GameCube (GC), Playstation Portable (PSP) Previews


	Platform Xbox, PC, Playstation 2, GameCube, PSP Genre Platformer / Action Publisher 2K Games Developer High Voltage ETA Q4 2006
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Family Guy

After repeatedly being killed and subsequently resurrected by Fox, it looks like Family Guy is finally here to stay. And with that, 2K Games has snatched up the rights to translate the Griffins and their town of Quahog into a video game. Not all cartoon based games have been great so far - the failure to success ratio on the Simpsons games isn’t exactly overwhelming, and while the Futurama title had some great writing, it was ultimately underwhelming in the gameplay department. But the Family Guy game has one major thing working for it that the others don’t.

It looks DAMN good.

Cel shading has come a long way since it was popularized in games like Jet Grind Radio, and now we’d come to a point where it almost looks exactly like the

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cartoon, except in 3D. Screenshots don’t even do it justice - just seeing it in motion should be enough to convince fans to take a look.

At the very least, it has plenty of the authentic, random, pop culture influenced humor of the TV series. The idea is, Mr. Belvedere (yes, the innocuous butler from the 80s sitcom) is

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off to take over the world for some reason, and only Peter can stop him. In the meantime, Stewie needs to stand off against his evil sibling Bertram, and Brian needs to escape from some trumped up paternity suits. And you know the trademark cutaways? You actually play those scenes and take part in the gag.

But how does it play? So far, it seems to be your standard 3D action game, with a bit of stealth mixed in. As long as developer High Voltage (the guys behind Hunter: The Reckoning) can deliver a solid game to match the humor, then fans of the Family Guy can expect to truly take part in the cartoon. It’s currently on track on Fall release for all three current gen systems, hopefully around the time of the new season. There’s also a portable version in the works, although details are slim on that.

- Kurt Kalata

(July 27, 2006)