E3 had its moments with Project Natal, Metriod: Other M, Halo Reach and henceforth but Scribblenauts ended up being quite the pleasant surprise, receiving an overwhelming positive reception from critics and gamers alike. No one expected a DS video game to make such an impact, but what exactly made Scribblenauts stand out so much?
Scribblenauts, like Drawn to Life before it, is a platformer. Gamers play the role of a character named Maxewell, who has to complete a series of puzzle and action based levels in order to acquire ‘Starites’. The game however is a unique and unconventional platformer that looks to further build upon what Drawn to Life has started.
The main gimmick of Scribblenauts is that you scribble a word with the stylus, any word, and the corresponding object will appear in the game. The video and trailers we have seen so far show off some outrageous objects, for example, you scribble ‘Einstein’, ‘God’, ‘time machine’, ‘death’, ‘vomit’ and ‘whale’ and they instantly show up on screen ready to be used in the game.
These are but a few examples of the things you can create.
The game shows a lot of potential when it comes to the amount of objects gamers can create. You can scribble words for animals, vehicles, famous people and just stuff in general. The game will offer tens of thousands words that can be scribbled to make objects appear on screen.
So we can create a lot of things, but what do we do with them? Well the idea behind Scribblenauts is to allow gamers to approach each level and puzzle in different ways by making good use of the things they create. Gamers will be encouraged to be creative and tackle situations the way they want to and there will be several ways to play each level.
For instance, a video of the game shows a puzzle where a whale hadsto be moved. One way to do it is to use a combination of a balloon attached to the whale and a small electric fan. But, another more logical way was to simply use a bulldozer. While you can go wild with the amount of objects you can use to solve a problem, each level however has a ‘par’ for the amount objects that should ideally be used. If gamers are able to complete a level within the ‘par’, they will earn more ‘Ollars’ (the currency of the game) and use it to purchase items.
All sorts of crazy things can be done here.
The game will feature over 200 levels that will take place across ten different worlds. The levels will come in two variations, action and puzzle. Furthermore, the game will include a ‘Level Editor’ mode which will allow gamers to create their own levels and share them via Wi-Fi connection.
The mode we are most excited about is the ‘Playground Mode’ - an open ended sandbox style mode. Gamers will be able to do as they please and experiment with different objects. It is here gamers will be able to get answers to age old ‘versus’ questions, such as who would win in a fight between a zombie and an alien?. Okay bad example but you get the idea.
Visually the game looks nice and showcases some pleasing 2D graphics. It is colourful and has its own distinct art style, with the overall look being very cartoon like. We think the game looks charming and the art style adds a bit of an uplifting and humorous flair.
Scribblenauts is shaping up to be a very interesting Nintendo DS game. The game is expected to be released here in September 2009 and we are looking forward to this one of a kind platformer.
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