Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure
PlayStation 4
Before Playing:
This game, I tell you. I downloaded it on a whim a few weeks ago. My kid was really into Untitled Goose Game at the time. I wanted to see if he'd be interested in any other games once the fascination with that one wore off. I downloaded this game, along with Katamari and Bee Simulator. I didn't really give this game much thought. Of the three, I thought it would be the one he would be interested in the least. He doesn't really care much about Ice Age. Plus, I was worried it was going to be little more than a generic movie tie-in cash grab. These games are almost never good. Little did I know that this game would become such a big deal in my household.
My kid fell in love with this game immediately. The others, Katamari and Bee Simulator? He didn't care about them one bit. It was this game that he latched on to. In fact, to this day he still continues to play through this game, even though he's beaten all of the levels about five or six times now. He keeps cycling through it over and over again. He just loves it.
Because he loves it, I am also forced to love it. There are many parts of the game where he has handed me the controller because it is too hard for him. At first, I wasn't even going to review this game because it is more his game than mine. But then I ended up playing through the whole thing myself in order to get the platinum trophy.
Let's move onto the review. My five year old might like this game, but how do I feel about it? Let's find out!
Story:
I have to admit, I've never seen a single Ice Age movie. My kid has seen it before with his mom, but I've never seen it. I have no idea who Scrat or any of these other characters are. But good news is that I don't really need to know anything about Ice Age to enjoy this game.
Playing as the titular Scrat, you must travel to the four regions of the continent to reach these magical acorn thingies. Once you've collected them all, you return to the main hub and unlock the game's ending. All the acorns together summon a space ship, where Scrat is beamed aboard. He comes face to face with a thicc alien squirrel dominatrix. The game ends. The credits roll. I am moved to tears.
Gameplay:
I've read some reviews of this game online. I think most of them have missed the mark. "This game's too easy! It holds your hand too much. Too many checkpoints. Where's the challenge? It's too simplistic!" All of these criticisms make sense if you are an adult gamer coming into this game looking to be entertained. But this isn't Banjo-Kazooie. It's not Ratchet and Clank. This game isn't for "big people." It's for kids. It's supposed to be simple and easy. As me and my son were playing, I often referred to it in my mind as "Baby's First 3D Platformer," and that's exactly what this is!
You only have a couple moves you can pull off. You control your character with the left analog stick. The right stick controls the camera. X is for jumping and square is for attacking. You can hold L2 to aim a nut - which is your projectile weapon. Hitting R2 while aiming throws the nut. L1 makes you crawl. R1 is a roll maneuver. Play this game for five minutes and you'll get the hang of it very quickly.
As you progress through the levels, you'll notice that you pass checkpoints that save the game after every 30 seconds or so of progress you make. You have unlimited lives. Every time you die, you come back to the checkpoint with full health. This makes the game very easy and accessible for small children. Just imagine if there were lives and continues. Or if you had to start the level over each time you die. My kid would have stopped playing on day one. So it's a good thing that this game is as easy and user friendly as it is. Whoever made this game definitely had small kids in mind when they made this. Like I said before, if you are an adult looking for something like Banjo-Kazooie or Mario 64, this game is not for you.
Each of the game's four environments each have four stages within them. They are all very straightforward 3D platforming stages. You fight enemies, you collect gems and hidden secrets. You jump from ledge to ledge or platform to platform. You occasionally fight a boss character.
There also some light puzzles you'll encounter as you play. For example, you occasionally encounter locked doors that can only be opened by picking up "battery" acorns and putting them into charging sockets outside of the doors. There are also doors that can be unlocked by throwing acorns at various hidden symbols in the level.
After you complete one of the game's areas, you unlock a special power. There are 3 in total. First is a double jump, followed by an ability to launch yourself through rings in the sky, followed by a telekinesis move that allows you to drag blocks around to make platforms you can jump on. You can use these moves to advance to new stages. You can also use them to revisit old stages and get items you missed. So there is a light "Metroidvania" twist to the gameplay.
If you are an experienced gamer, you can beat the game in one sitting. If you're a five-year-old, it may take you a week or so. Like I said, it's not a challenging game. But that's not really the point. "Baby's First 3D Platformer" is the point, remember?
The game's most glaring flaw is a wonky camera system. It was the hardest thing for my kid to get a handle on. The game is also glitchy AF. I lost count of the times I would randomly fall through the floor or a wall to my death. One time the character started walking on the ceiling and would fall painfully to the ground, only to be pulled back up the ceiling again. It was like he was being yo-yo'd up and down over and over again. We had to restart the game to fix this.
Aside from that, this is a perfectly playable game.
Graphics:
The game looks fairly decent. It can be a little bland and repetitive looking from time to time, but overall I think it looks good. The latter part of the game with the volcano and the dinosaurs is the most visually appealing part of the game. The earlier levels are the ones that look a little samey. There's a generic river area. A lot of ice caves and the snowy mountains that all blend together. Where the game stands out is in all the little details in the background. Sometimes you can see the bosses you are going to fight walking by on a ledge nearby. Other characters like bald eagles and big wooly mammoths will perch on the ledges and watch you as well. I assume they have some type of significance to the films, but like I said: I haven't seen 'em.
The cutscenes in the game are funny and very cinematic. My kiddo loves watching Scrat fall of cliffs and get into all kinds of precarious situations. I suppose I should also mention how the special stages (where you learn new abilities) look eerily similar to the stages in Immortals Fenyx Rising where you learn special abilities. This can't be a coincidence, can it?
Don't expect to see a wide variety of enemies as you play. You fight the same generic looking bugs and crabs the entire game. You should also be prepared to run into a ton of visual glitches along the way. Like walls disappearing, your character walking through a pile of rocks and falling to his death. That kind of thing. Overall, the game looks decent. I won't say it is the most beautiful game ever, or anything like that. It plays it safe most of the time. But it does what it sets out to do.
Sound:
I can't really say anything too bad about the game's sound. Scrat is the star of the show, with all the little noises and sounds he makes. The cutscenes always sound professionally done. The music in them (I assume) matches what you hear in the movies.
The stage music itself can be a little generic and underwhelming. It's very low key and it fades into the background fairly well. And I swear they use the same music for multiple stages. Nothing about it really stands out. It seems like they played it fairly safe here.
Overall:
I truly did not expect to enjoy this game as much as I did. I don't even know if it is because the game is even any good, or if it's because it brings me joy to watch my son get such a kick out of this. He really, really loves this game, and I feel his enthusiasm for it has rubbed off on me.
I just think you have to adjust your expectations coming into this. If you are more of a serious gamer, you're going to think this game is a piece of cake. But hey, at least it is an easy platinum trophy. So there's still incentive to keep playing. But you aren't going to get much out of this.
But playing it with a kid who is truly invested in it, and loves the crap out of this game changes my perspective on it immediately. This game wasn't really made for me. It was made for him. And it has been the perfect fit. And I love that. The game itself? Yeah, it's okay. I've probably gotten more out of this game than most adults out there have. I'm truly glad I got the chance to play this game, because I never would have otherwise. Out of other kid oriented titles like Bluey, Peppa Pig, or Geronimo Stilton, this is easily the best.
If you're a parent and you want to get your kid into gaming, I highly advise having them give this game a try. It won't only be fun for them, it will be fun for you, too. Baby's First 3D Platformer. Just remember that.
THE GRADE:
B+
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