He looks as if he's cooking up some kind of scheme. |
The basic gameplay elements in Stupid Invaders basically consist of: picking up an item from one room and using it in the next. Which is similar to most graphic adventure games, but in Stupid Invaders it is too obvious where the items are suppose to be used. Don't get me wrong though, the game is very fun to go through, mainly because the story is very good but the gameplay doesn't offer much after you complete the game. The replay value is pretty low in Stupid Invaders, but some people possibly would want to play through the game again, just to watch the CG sequences. Something that I would have loved to see in the game would have been a Theater Mode option, which would give access to the CG sequences after finishing the game.
As stated, graphically the game looks great, but unfortunately some of the camera angles and areas you'll explore, can become confusing. While you are exploring in Stupid Invaders, you are pointed to a destination with on screen text like "This Way" or "Walk Here." But in certain situations you can click on the screen and it takes you to a new part of the area, that would have normally been missed. This can confuse some people because the game usually tells you where you can/can't go, even though it would be nicer to just be able to explore without help from the game. But still, it can get frustrating when walking through a room and you get to another part of the room without even knowing it was there in the first place.
I have another gripe concerning the explorable areas. Though they are nicely rendered in 3D and look great, some of the rooms have no interactivity at all. Some have no items, and even have nothing to click on. These rooms have nothing to contribute to the game, which makes them a seem like a waste of space and time. They do look great and add more total explorable area to the game, but the devlopers could have added something to these rooms that contributes to the story line, or even a hidden joke or two. (Note to self, expect hate mail from people who have found hidden jokes in these non-interactive rooms)
I honestly just don't wanna know. |
Though it is generally good, I have a few issues with the soundtrack in Stupid Invaders. In certain areas, the track playing in the background will be very short, and hence, plays in a loop. This would be fine if the there wsan't a second-long loading delay between track loops. And I suppose it really isn't a big deal, but it was annoying to me, and thus worth pointing out. Another small point, I recommend that you turn on the subtitles option because some of the speech is hard to understand, and by having the subtitles you will be able to hear and read what they, our Alien friends, are saying. Again not a huge deal because that's what the subtitles are for, right?
The continuous load times as you move your character between rooms can also get very annoying. For example, when you enter and move throughout each area, the game has to load for about one to two seconds. Even though the loading time is very short, it can gets tedious when you want to go through a room you have already explored. This isn't a significant problem for the game as a whole, but after playing it for awhile, the loading between each room will surely get on your nerves.
In a nutshell, Stupid Invaders is a game that has some problems, but its great storyline, great characters, and trmendous amount of humor moves its minor gameplay flaws into the shadows.
After reading the issues that I had with the game, don't be fooled with my overall impression of the game. I really enjoy playing Stupid Invaders. With the graphic adventure genre not having many games this year, and the declining number of games being released for the Dreamcast in general, Ubi Soft deserves serious praise for releasing this game on the Dreamcast in the US. It was a very fun, if short, experience. If you are a fan of the genre I recommend that you pick this game up, and for the other Dreamcast players I recommend that you give it a rental before you buy.
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