Ratatouille is this year's big animation film from Pixar. The story is based around the main character Remy, who is a rat living on a farm in the French countryside and who dreams of one day making it big as a chef. As is the trend these days, a video game based on the film has been released on various platforms, including the Xbox 360. The fact that it is a film tie-in will no doubt already lower many peoples expectations. Ratatouille the game, published by THQ, is a 3D platformer where the player takes control of the movie's main character, Remy.

Gameplay:

The first level in the game starts of with a basic tutorial, although there is a point where the tutorial seems to stop abruptly and the gamer must use his own initiative to complete the level. The object of the story mode, which starts off in a farm, is to collect charms which are located in various places around the level. Some involve acrobatical skills and others require a more thoughtful approach. Saying that however, don't expect the problem solving parts to be too puzzling, after all its target audience is for kids and families. At first the gameplay seems responsive and at the right sensitivity, moving Remy around is smooth and the actions like jumping are sensible. As the tutorial progresses however, things get a little more tricky. For example there is a section early on where Remy must use a juggling ball to get across a dangerous area, this involves jumping onto the ball and pressing the B button whilst in the air. Sounds simple enough in theory, but in practice you will be lucky if you can pull it off first time. Perhaps if it was just one instance it would be acceptable, but not only is it likely that the juggling ball will come into play again soon, other puzzles usually involve an equally frustrating combination which just doesn't seem to work – as if the buttons are not responding. For the juggling ball it will take a few tries, but it gets worse when you are exploring areas high up that require Remy to walk across a tightrope, if you jump and mis-time pressing the B button then you will fall to your death, unfortunately this happens too often to make the gameplay as fluid as it should be. The frustrating obstacles are made even harder at times when the camera decides to go awkward and not allow the player to manually take control to move it to a more sensible location. As for the actual objectives in the game, each level requires Remy to collect a certain number of charms to proceed, the charms are located around the levels however they can also be gained from completing tasks and minigames, also found throughout the levels. This might involve chasing a character or perhaps being chased, Remy is after all a rat. The minigames are nothing too original but they seem fun enough and are fairly varied and come together just as you would expect from a platformer. There is no option to save your progress in game which is a little disappointing and the save system seems bizarre at times, almost as if it chooses when to save and randomly delete saves. There is no Xbox Live compatibility but the game does allow up to 4 players to play the minigames. The minigames can be unlocked by completing them in the story mode, however the quality and fun factor of them is hit and miss, there really is only a handful which you will find yourself going back to no doubt and avoiding the rest.

Graphics:

There isn't much to shout about here, but saying that, it would be wrong to complain a lot since the game is based on an animated movie, so the textures and models wont be trying to look too realistic. Some of the objects do seem like something you might expect on last gen consoles but have just been sharpened up a little. The detail on Remy, the main playable character as well as some of the other prominent characters is well above other objects and characters in the game and the animations for Remy are superb, the way he climbs drain pipes or the way he lands, it seems well polished, however again some of the other characters definitely don't look as fluid. Overall the visuals are nothing special but it does capture the animated style of the film, for example certain things will be out of proportion and exaggerated.

Sound:

There doesn't seem to be much music on offer in the game, but the music that does play in the background fits in well with the style of the game, such as the quirky classical French tune for the metropolitan level in Paris. The voices from the characters are spot on and those who have seen the animated picture will no doubt recognise the voices. Remy will also come out with the odd witty saying or catchphrase during gameplay.

Longevity:

The story mode of the game can probably be done in two or three or possibly even one sitting and should not be too time consuming. If you like to hunt for achievements however then set aside a little more time because the achievement list is long and some of them, like finding all the charms, will take a lot of time. Although the game lacks Live multiplayer, the minigames will no doubt add a little more play time to the game, at least the good ones will. Other than the minigames and perhaps another play through for the achievements there isn't much here will will make you come back to the game.

Overall:

Ratatouille has its moments, it will definitely appeal to fans of the film in terms of location and the characters. The gameplay is not horrible, but it does become frustrating at times, especially when you are sure you are perfectly timing the buttons but it just doesn't seem to work. The camera can also be annoying at times. Its hard to recommend Ratatouille to even platform game fans, unless they enjoyed the movie. The game does do many things well, however it seems that only fans of the film will appreciate it, such as the animations and the way it captures the scale of things, considering you are a Rat the levels seem suitably large.