The long running and beloved British clay-mation series Wallace and Gromit has arrived with its first episode in a four part series called Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventure. TellTale Games, the same guys who brought you the wildly successful Sam and Max (also releasing on XBLA) & Strong Bad’s series on WiiWare, has taken the same recipe that made those games such an enjoyment to play and has continued that tradition here. The first game in the series (and previously released on PC) titled Fright of the Bumble Bees will appeal to both fans of the animated source material and those looking for a fun distraction.

In this first episode, Wallace has begun a honey making and supply service for the town. Since this is Britain, it’s very common for people to use honey to spread on their toast at breakfast and adding it to their teas. He’s been asked to supply an event 50 gallons worth of Honey by the end of the day. He doesn’t have the necessary supplies (pollen) to do such a thing so your first objective is to get the required ingredients to complete this task. Without giving away too many details, let’s just say that while you end up getting the vital items, you create bigger problems for the town and are forced into cleaning up your mess.


Gameplay

Being a straight port of the PC version, Fright of the Bumble Bees lets you control both Wallace and Gromit as you would with any point and click adventure only this time you control them with your Xbox 360 controller. Character movement feels a bit stiff and camera angles don’t always follow the action correctly. However, they work well most of the time and they don’t become frustrating. Thankfully, the game grants you the possibility to interact with certain objects found around the room....limiting your stiff movements in the process. By holding the Y button, you will highlight the points of interests, and then you can use the left and right bumpers in order to interact with the objects faster. Your character will then move close to it and interact. If you need to pick it up for an specific mission, it will be added automatically to your inventory. You can access it via the X button.

There are a few areas you’ll explore including your house and the town centre. Some spots have a lot of items to examine while others only have a few key pieces to look at. As with any adventure game, there is a lot of backtracking and walking around. In some situations, you’ll need to collect an item in one area in order to complete a task in another.

For the most part, the story is fairly linear. You won’t be able to go off the beaten path too much, but it’s not to say that you won’t get lost or encounter some challenges with the games numerous puzzles. As with any adventure game, there will be a bit of trial and error with all the puzzles but finding the solution is never too far away. Outside of a few pesky puzzles, completing the tasks in the game shouldn’t take too much effort. There is the ability to adjust hints if you need help, but most gamers will not need this unless they rush through the story and fail to listen to the clues both Wallace and the townsfolk mention.


Graphic & Sounds

The Wallace and Gromit series of shorts are well-known for its use of clay to animate all the characters. While the videogame isn’t animated in this same style, the characters are faithful to the source material. Both Wallace and Gromit look identical and all the side characters have the same unique style to them. The cast of characters is small, but each one of them looks really good. Even the non-human characters in the game (excluding Wallace) are animated really well and can be quite funny at times. In general, the game runs fairly smoothly but I did notice some longer than usual loading times when your characters would walk from one room into another and a few framerate slowdowns during gameplay.

The sound is on par with the graphics. Peter Sallis, the voice behind Wallace in the animated shorts, does not voice him here, but the replacement actor still does a great job and it can be hard to tell the difference. The rest of cast of characters are all voiced quite well with each having their own distinctive flavour that really helps make the story flow and feel interesting. None of the cast seems out of place and will certainly put a smile on your face with some really clever lines. The dialogue does repeat itself after some time, but they did manage to offer a lot of interaction between the non-playable characters and Wallace and Gromit. The music in the game is also similar to the style from the shorts. You’ll hear plenty of big band music and it fits the tone of the story very well.

Value

The length of this first episode feels right and doesn’t drag on past the point of the entertainment it provides. It should only take you about 2-3 hours to complete the story. Your time will vary depending on if you decide to examine every available nook and cranky including listening to every dialog interaction. One issue about the length might be that once you’ve finished this episode, there is no real reason to go back and play it again. This is a common trend for episodic titles which are meant to be enjoyed and completed in a short period of time. This is a bit of a double edged sword, it can feel like a letdown since it will be about a month before the next episode becomes available but also give some players the thrill of excitement as they await the next title.


Conclusion

Fright of the Bumble Bees is an interesting start to the series and should be evident that the following three episodes will satisfy adventure gamers. This game is not strictly for fans of the series and may end up turning some people into one. Hardcore adventure gamers might not find this game to be much of a challenge, but people looking for a game that will entertain them or their family members for a few hours will certainly enjoy the puzzles and humor from start to finish.