by: Samantha Howell

January 12, 2008

The Bee Movie game is surprisingly approachable, and any younger gamers or would-be gamers will be interested in the game for sure. In fact, it packs so much variety and freedom for a kid’s game that it is almost like an appetizer platter for younger gamers to try out until they find something they really like. So if you are a parent, older sibling, or so on, that in effect will at least give you a better idea of what to buy your young’un for there birthday and Christmas. The story of the game only vaguely follows the story of the movie. In fact the main bee, Barry B. Benson, is telling the story to his fellow bees on the local news station. His voice is done of course by Jerry Seinfield, and the story and dialogue that are there isn’t to bad at all.

The game can be extremely repetitive. There is not only the story from the movie but a lot of side things to do as well. You can do a lot of jobs within the hive that really don’t progress the game other than it is something for you to do. For example being a cab driver or worker in the “factory” making honey. There are ten different levels for each of the jobs you can perform each with increasing difficulty, though they are obviously easy through the tenth level, being made for children. Achievements are easy to receive; all you have to do is your jobs. In order to progress through the story end of the game you must complete so much inside the hive, doing odd jobs. There is also an arcade that you can unlock different 80’s style arcade games in as you proceed. You can purchase these by collecting nectar which you can get by; collecting the honey combs in each level which have no other purpose, killing enemies when you are at that certain point, completing jobs, or by running over things while driving through the hive. With nectar points you can also buy outfits and cars for your character.

The most fun of the game comes out of doing the main portion of the game though, which puts Barry out in the open trying to find his purpose, and figure out who keeps taking all the honey from the hive. While out there you will be buzzing past traffic, fighting fly swatter swiping behemoths, and zipping around rain drops. The overall effect is actually pretty amazing, especially because this is a wonderfully stylized view of what it is like for bees.

The graphics of the Bee Movie Game are surprisingly detailed and well done, this probably being one of the first games based off of a animated movie to truly look next-gen on Xbox 360. You see this especially during the chase scenes. Moving your character around obstacles is extremely simple. The game is pretty good, but is awfully simple even for children. During the above mention chased scenes all you must do is hit the button shown on the screen in timing with it, or fly in that direction. Do this successfully and you not only beat that level and progress but you also receive an achievement. The majority of the game is simulated this way; during the “boss” battles all you do is hit the designated button. Press A to fly forward, use the triggers to suck pollen into your gun and then to release it onto dying flowers. Pollinated all the flowers and get more achievements.

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I was very surprised about how well done this game was done, especially for a movie property. If you have a younger gamer in the household that liked the movie, or just wants something new, this would be a great one for them to try. It is entertaining, funny, and a tad bit cute.

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