Written Review
OK, this isn’t going to be a long one, but as I played this I wanted to talk about it. First off, yes I know this is a young children’s game and I know I may be being harsh, but, I think kids would be disappointed with this if fans of the show. Let’s start off with the pups. There’s Chase, Marshall, Sky, Rocky, Zuma, Everest, Rubble and Tracker. Unless more has been added to the tv show since my kids last watched it you have all of them. That’s pretty good, but, there’s no voice acting in the game except for Ryder, the Leader of the Paw Patrol and a human kid. Well. the issue there is with the pups having no voices they say nothing, obviously. Kids would expect at least the occasional “this pups got to fly”, or “I’m ready for a ruff-ruff rescue”. It’s strange that for a game based around playing as a team of talking dogs, none speak. Ever. Ryder on the other hand does actually have a voice. He speaks during the mission briefing explaining your mission. Well, that and all the fucking time during the levels. OH, A COIN and then a few seconds later DON’T FORGET THE COINS/ Hey Pups, remember to get the Paw Biscuits. You collect the treats and you’ll get a reward. He doesn’t stop. He’s so annoying. It’s one of the many issues I have with the game.
The game is a platformer, and I guess it’s at least competent in that area, though there’s no challenge at all. Again, I understand it’s a young children’s game, but, there’s nothing there that you have to deal with, there are no enemies, which kinda makes sense, there are not a lot of things getting in the way of the Paw Patrol, but there could have been bosses or something, there is the evil Mayor Humdinger in the show and his Kitastrphy Crew, but none appear. You literally just jump about to the end collecting 200 pup treats and 5 Paw Patrol Medals. There are not really any obstacles either. you make get 2 points or so in a level where you have to call in another Paw Patrol member to move something or carry you across a gap of water, or you use an ability to climb a wall or get through a maze. Which, talking about the Maze, Chase uses his Super Sniffer to sniff his way through them, you then later in the game for 2 levels get to use Tracker. His ability is his Super Hearing, which allows him to hear his way through mazes, it’s exactly the same as Chase’s ability.
The biggest variation is the flying and underwater sections with Sky and Zume. Though gain here’s no challenge, you simply fly or swim to the end of the section and get the collectables if you so choose. There are obstacles in the form of Clouds and seagulls in the sky and Seaweed and Fish in the sea, but all they do is slow you down very briefly, but as there’s no time limit or anything like that, it makes literally no difference to anything. Oh, I guess there’s also another section as Everest where you do some snowboarding. Again it has obstacles that slow you down a little, but it’s probably the most fun part of the game, which is honestly not saying much at all.
Well, honestly the game is awful, and I think younger children into Paw Patrol may even be disappointed in it, it’s rather soulless. The thing is there are plenty of children’s games that are tied into films or TV shows, or there have been over the years, for example, The Lion King or Aladdin were great games, and hod things happen in them. Toy Story 3 which came out on the 360 also had various things, enemies
and challenges. I just think this is too dumbed down like there’s no respect for the player’s intelligence, or patience to learn something. Anyway, avoid this, it’s shit.