God bless the movie tie-in. In this day and age, when production costs are through the roof and game quality is up across the board as a result, the chance to genuinely lay into something and utilise the lower end of the scoring spectrum is rare indeed. Luckily, though, there’ll always be a market for rushed, sloppy and generally weak branded titles to ride the coattails of any given movie. And often, in the case of films for a younger audience, standards slip still further as developers underestimate the intelligence of their consumers. But while Spiderwick certainly isn’t deserving of the same level of scorn as many of the licensed turkeys that have come before it – and indeed raises the odd smile and eyebrow along its course – it’s a far cry from a great game all the same.
Based on the Nickelodeon movie of the same name, The Spiderwick Chronicles follows the exploits of three kids that stumble upon an unseen world around their new home. It’s a bit like Narnia without a wardrobe, with the faeries, goblins and so forth only able to be seen through a curious stone ring. The kids themselves are one of the game’s – and presumably the film’s – most grating aspects, as while the concept of a mysterious secret world is one that has been addressed time and time again (and is so tackled pretty nicely here at times), this trio’s similarities in attitude and personality to the Harry/Ron/Hermione combo of the JK Rowling books just feels like a deeply cynical cash-in on established familiarity.
Beyond this, Spiderwick actually boasts a pretty robust engine, both visually and in terms of basic play mechanics. It’s about as simple as collect stuff, hit stuff, win game but given that the key demographic is the younger end of the spectrum, that’s hardly surprising. What is a little odd is the minimal level of hand-holding that goes on in comparison to similar games aimed at the same market, with objectives often tucked away beneath several layers of menus rather than made obvious through on-screen prompts. At some points, missing the ‘journal updated’ flash can result in plenty of aimless wandering even for the most seasoned of gamers, cheekily extending the life of the game and ensuring that the kids will often be left stranded for a good while at a time before getting back on the right track.
Which is a shame because on the whole, the fighting is actually pretty good. The two characters that use melee weapons (a baseball bat and a fencing rapier, to be precise) share very similar move pools, with only Simon’s reliance on a pitifully short-ranged water gun filled with anti-goblin potion ruining things. Depending on which character you’re using – which is predetermined by story level until the very end of the game – different challenges present themselves but you can usually get away with just running away from enemies when their numbers get too daunting. Some well-worked boss battles (such as the river troll, who can be escaped or confronted using different characters and tactics) spice things up a little, only to be rendered forgettable by yet more absolutely broken ones. Running away from a troll, Crash Bandicoot-style, while the twisting camera invites you to a sudden death drop at every turn is no fun at all. The chase with the ogre is worse still, camera once again plotting your demise but this time with an incredibly restrictive time limit to scurry along the exact right path around the mansion or die.
Even when it does have a flash of inspiration, Spiderwick rubs it in your face until you couldn’t be more tired of it. The idea of sketching faeries to add their powers to your arsenal or upgrade your abilities is both unique and initially entertaining, for example. But the magic colouring book approach (like those pictures you paint with water to get the colour to magically appear that amaze you so when you’re a kid) soon gets tiresome, especially since the only punishment for failure is a tap of the A button to recapture the sprite. Similarly, the platform sections where you take control of Thimbletack the brownie and gallivant around the mansion’s wall cavities (and, somewhat grimly, skewer cockroaches with needles) work brilliantly for their simplicity. But again, the little dude’s constant and infuriating rhyming quips will work anyone over the age of five into an uncontrollable frenzy within a matter of minutes.
In a way, we’d have been amazed if The Spiderwick Chronicles had spawned a game tie-in any better than this – Stormfront also gave us the equally banal Eragon after all, not to mention several of the last generations less memorable slash-’em-ups. Between strength of license and pedigree of developer, there was only ever the slimmest of chances for this to come good and sure enough, it doesn’t. It’ll keep the kids busy for a good while and in that respect can presumably be seen as a roaring success, even if its way of doing so is at times mildly deceitful. But more mature players will find the repetitive nature of the tasks set and the glaring missed opportunities a little too much to take, even if there are a couple of inspired ideas on show.
