Hail to the Chimp

The year 2008 will always be remembered as a year when people young and old took keen interest in the debates and elections that would decide who will become the next President of our country. Of course, for most these debates are as interesting as listening to a lengthy lecture on osmosis. Wouldn’t it be great to see the Republican nominee prove he’s better than the Democrat nominee by turning the campaign into a brutal challenging event in an arena? Well, maybe I’m the only warped one who does. Then again, Hail to the Chimp for the PlayStation 3 brings us a party game that is also a political satire that hits close to home … well, if we were cute animals, anyway.

The premise behind the game is that the lion, king of the jungle, is missing and all the animals are in an uproar. Someone must take the lion’s place and in order to do this a number of animals must hit the campaign trail and win the public’s vote by competing in a series of events against rival candidates. So everything from a polar bear to a chimp as well as a walrus must compete and win the affection of the crowd as well as the CNN-inspired GRR polls.

Sadly, during the single-player portion of the game called Campaign, you can’t pick any of the animals to play. You’re forced to take the role of Ptolemy, a sort of hip-hop hippo, through most of the game rather than the titular chimp that’s actually a lot funnier than the stereotyped hippo. The game cleverly mixes in a newscast-styled show hosted by a wooden anchor named Woodchuck Chumley and his other animal anchors that sets up each of the events as well as the results at the end of the event. The “televised” event even comes with a number of humorous commercials for fake products as well as candidate endorsed commercials.

The events take a stab at political satire, whether it takes you to a body of water called the Watergates. There are other locals that will pit you against the other candidates as you collect clams (which represent votes). Each event usually involves clam collecting, whether you’re tasked with taking as many of them and stuffing them into a ballot box or holding on to a certain number of them for a limited amount of time. Whether you’re in competing in a lava level called Ring of Fire or the snowy tundra of Slippery Slopes, the events all start feeling the same as you attempt to beat the other candidates.

Unfortunately, the single-player game is plagued with a few problems that go beyond the fact that the clam-collecting events get old quickly. There are AI issues that pop up frequently that do get in the way of the action. Oftentimes one or two of your opponents might get stuck in corners or on some environmental object. There is the option to team up with another candidate but this feature rarely produces anything helpful seeing as the AI help is unresponsive.

Still, this is a party game and if you skip the single-player to go up against friends online or offline you’re in for a better time. Easy to pick up and just start playing, the gameplay is simplistic and the fighting mechanics rather basic no matter what character you play. There are power-ups that the AI ignores in the single-player Campaign so it’s great to see other players take advantage of them during an event. Online, the game doesn’t experience any hiccups but I don’t see many players willing to keep playing this game for very long because the events all play alike.

The game’s graphics could have been charming but instead they look rather dated. This is really unacceptable seeing as The Simpsons Game for the PS3 looked far crisper and featured better visual effects. The animal characters do look funny and you can even add flair to alter their appearance a little. At least most of the environments look good and the game runs at a steady framerate.

The game’s sound fairs a lot better than the visuals. This is mainly because the voice acting is good and the music fits the game’s theme. For the most part, the jokes are far better than the sight gags and there are a few stabs at the Bush administration without getting too obvious or controversial. There are a few lame jokes as well but thankfully Chumley’s newscast delivery makes up for it. There are some sound effects in the game but they’re nothing special.

Hail to the Chimp for the PlayStation 3 had all the makings of an excellent party game filled with witty political satire but somehow the events just aren’t as inventive enough to be much fun for long. Yes, the game does have some great moments playing against friends but since most of the levels start feeling alike I really don’t see gamers wanting to keep playing for very long. Really, if it’s a party game you’re looking for then this one doesn’t make a bad weekend rental. 

Gameplay: 6.0
The throne to the animal kingdom is up for grabs so it’s time to campaign by trying to outwit rivals in a fist-smashing, clam-grabbing eleven events. The single-player portion is awful so the real fun is competing with a group of friends offline or on. If politicians campaigned like this you can definitely expect some high ratings … and more voters at the polls.

Graphics: 5.5
The visuals just aren’t that good seeing as we’ve seen cartoon-like graphics done better than this on the PlayStation 3. Still, the animals look alright and there are some flashy effects during the matches. Oh, and the politically themed environments are actually cute.

Sound: 7.5
The music is loopy and utterly charming and you just have to love Woodchuck Chumley who is appropriately stiff as an anchorman. There are some really funny lines in the game and the commercials are a hoot but most of the time the jokes can be really lame.

Difficulty: Easy
As a single-player game, the opponent AI acts erratically so sometimes they’ll be smart enough to offer a challenge and most of the time they can be way too dumb and thus make this game way too easy. When a hippo can run circles around a slender and quicker squid you know you won’t be breaking a sweat.

Concept: 5.5
At times, the political satire is biting yet witty and oftentimes it’s just not funny at all. The different animal candidates move differently so your friends and you have enough to pick from and use in the game. The main menu screen is made up of an actual GRR broadcast.

Multiplayer: 7.0
This game was definitely not meant to be a single-player game but rather to be shared with four players offline or online. It is here that you even get to pick the animal character you would like to play. There is the occasional dip in the framerate online but it doesn’t get in the way of the levels.

Overall: 6.0
Hail to the Chimp could have been one of those wonderfully inviting and thoroughly enjoyable party games for the PS3 and this is too bad since there are some fun moments. Still, I don’t see this game being the life of the party seeing as Nintendo’s Mario Party games offers addictive gameplay and plenty of variety. Sorry, but this chimp isn’t a barrel of laughs.