Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Imagine yourself on a boat on a river made of milky chocolate and where the emerald green grass is the sweetest candy stalks you’ll be yanking it out and eating as much of it as possible.  This is a place where jellybeans grow off trees and all your favorite candies are produced by the handful.  Imagine you just won yourself a golden ticket that allowed you to tour such a place just like in that new Tim Burton movie starring Johnny Depp.  Yes, now you can play in the candy-filled world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the Xbox.  Then again, this is one game that just loses its unique flavor way too quickly.

It seems that famed candy maker Willy Wonka has closed his chocolate factory from the public for good but seeing as everyone enjoys his tasty, sugary treats, he is allowing five children the opportunity to tour the factory and one lucky child will even win a great prize.  All you have to do is find a golden ticket within the wrapper of his delicious chocolate bars and you’ll be treated to amazing sights with Wonka as the guide.  It so happens that four children, unworthy of the tour, have found their tickets but a gust of wind blows ten dollars into Charlie Bucket’s hands.  Charlie, a poor boy indeed, buys a chocolate bar and discovers that he has the final golden ticket.  So it’s off to Wonka’s candy factory where unforeseeable events place Charlie as Willy Wonka’s only hope.

The game’s premise is a good one and why wouldn’t it be?  It was a good book that was made into a new movie so all the things we get to see have that Tim Burton feel.  Even this Willy Wonka resembles hunky Depp and the majority of the characters look like their movie counterparts.  The game begins with Charlie chasing the ten-dollar bill fate tosses his way and thus begins Charlie’s adventure.  Yet while as good as the story is and the opening level is a great introduction, the game falls apart quickly.

Wonka’s candy factory just isn’t the same marvel seen in the movies and as you move Charlie through the green candy grass there just isn’t much use exploring the rather dull environments.  You won’t do much exploring anyway seeing as Wonky quickly puts Charlie to work (collecting candy bits) and to help him dislodge the hefty Augustus Goop who had fallen into the chocolate river and find himself stuck in a tube.  Wonka tells you that you’ll need help and the best workers a cocoa bean could buy are none other than the diminutive Oompa-Loompas.  Charlie can order up to six of them to follow, wait and work using the D-pad.  There are certain usable objects (such as machines) the Oompa-Loompas can work and some can even fetch healing candies for you.  There are four Oompa-Loompa types with their own specialty so each one has a skill you’ll need throughout the game.

There are puzzles to solve but the majority of them have obvious solutions that I don’t see any gamer, young or old, make use of Grandpa Joe’s hints (they’re vague hints, anyway).  There wasn’t a time in the game where I was stumped seeing as if you wait too long to solve a puzzle the game practically points at the area or object you have to concentrate your attention.  This type of handholding is felt throughout the game and gee does the game start feeling less challenging.  In fact, some puzzles just feel like work.

The worst part, though, is the game’s controls and camera problems that just destroy what little fun you get to squeeze out of the game.  There were four instances while I was playing where Charlie managed to get stuck and I had to restart the game.  Once, while platform jumping between areas, Charlie somehow wedged himself between a wall and a tree.  The camera isn’t a friend either, making you swing the camera manually just to see if you don’t fall to your death.  Charlie comes to possess certain Candy Powers, one of them being the ability to bounce on a candy bubble but thanks to the awful camera control you’ll be frustrated by the bouncing.  And chasing Wonka-Vites (used to restore health) is just so downright frustrating that you’ll give up on it.

On the graphical front, this isn’t the prettiest Xbox game you’ll come across and it won’t dazzle you with colorful, oddball backdrops.  Sure there are strange contraptions about and there are areas that scream Tim Burton, but it’s not the remarkable playing field it could have been seeing as the game is inspired by the recent movie.  In fact, some of the more interesting places in the movie come off as dull in the game.  The character design is pretty decent and watching the Oompa-Loompas at work while Charlie pushes a Wonkabot wrapped in candy vines is really off-the-wall.

The sound, on the other hand, does a great job of bringing the story and each situation to life.  The voice acting is actually pretty good, with the children playing their part just right and with a narrator that weaves the story well enough.  Even Charlie comes off as likeable here.  There are even some okay sound effects, although they don’t really stand out the way it should.  It’s the game’s original score that wins big points here mostly because it does make the game feel like classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It certainly is as good as the Danny Elfman score from the film and it certainly fits the game’s style excellently.

In the end, all the things Willy Wonka shows you don’t translate as interesting in game form nor does it make for a fun or zany time either.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is much like a Gobstopper in that it starts out sweetly but the very second you get to its core it leaves a sour aftertaste before you even reach the end.  Plagued with control problems, camera issues and awful level design, this is a game that should be better off skipped altogether.  If its zany and interesting you’re looking for, I suggest you check out Psychonauts instead.   

Gameplay: 4.0
It’s not easy navigating Charlie throughout the Chocolate Factory it’s not because the world is overly challenging and off-the-wall like the movie but because the bad camera angles and jerky controls get in the way.  The puzzles range from somewhat fun to pretty monotonous and even Charlie’s Candy Powers aren’t interesting enough to keep gamers going.

Graphics: 6.7
This is also a game that doesn’t make use of the Xbox’s graphical powers so don’t expect this game to look amazing as the environments should.  The unusual visual appeal of the recent movie is somewhat present, especially when it comes to the characters, but what should be an amazing place just doesn’t come off as impressive.  Is it me or is there something hilarious about watching Oompa-Loompas at work?

Sound: 8.5
The sound somewhat makes up for the visuals with its beautifully cinematic original score, more than decent sound effects and the good voice acting.  The narrator does a wonderful job of unfolding the story and setting up each scenario.  I have one small complaint, though.  Why does Willy Wonka sound like Michael Jackson?  Creepy!  

Difficulty: Easy
The puzzles are so simple that there are hardly moments where gamers, even the youngest ones, will be scratching their heads wondering what to do next.  Some puzzles even reveal the solution if you take too long so you won’t need Grandpa Joe’s vague hints.

Concept: 4.5
We can discuss the failure of many a licensed game till the cows come home but this is just a case of taking an amazing book and a good new movie based on said book and mishandling it.  Sure all the basic elements are here and there’s some great moments - fixing Veruca Salt problems, for instance - that could have made for some great gaming moments, but it just wasn’t implemented well.

Overall: 4.5
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could have been sweeter than the candy Wonka makes but its share of problems just keeps this game from being a treat.  The fantastical wonder that is the factory just doesn’t feel as interesting or as fun as the movie and much of the situations begin to feel more like work.  I highly suggest you skip this one.