'Bully': No King of the 'Ant' Hill
Friday, October 13, 2006; Page WE46
Midway, the maker of such franchises as "Mortal Kombat" and "Spy Hunter," has traditionally shied away from Hollywood-licensed games. After playing "The Ant Bully," I think it's safe to say the company should have stuck with tradition.
Despite a growing number of decent movie-based games, the majority are not worth the price of a rental. "The Ant Bully," which expands the story line from the Warner Bros. computer-animated film, might entertain young players for a few hours, but it won't entice anyone to return to its virtual world. Players assume the role of young Lucas, a destroyer of ants who is magically shrunk to ant size to learn the error of his ways. Set within the ant world, players guide Lucas through a series of 20 third-person missions, which must be completed for him to return to his actual size. Lucas must work his way up the hierarchal ant society from worker ant to soldier, which allows fans of the film to get new story elements.
  Young Lucas has to think small in "The Ant Bully." (Midway Games/ign.com) |
Most of the gameplay involves exploring the world, fetching items for food and supplies and battling beetles and other insects. Lucas can use four weapons in these encounters: a staff for melee attacks, a larva silk squirter, dart guns and seed bombs. A lock-on targeting system allows players to maneuver while fighting flying insects. The gameplay is designed simply enough with the analog stick handling movement, one button used for basic actions and a second trigger button used for targeting.
The problem with the game is that it's just not fun. The missions are linear and repetitive, there aren't enough different enemies to battle, and everyone but the most fanatic fans of the film will tire of the action well before the conclusion. Not even the normally spot-on voice acting talent of Bruce Campbell, who's also in the film, can save this game from mediocrity.
-- John Gaudiosi
The Ant Bully Everyone 10+; PlayStation 2, GameCube ($30); PC ($20) Midway Games, A2M
