Wallace and Grommit’s Grand Adventures: The Last Resort Review
The second game in the TellTale Wallace and Grommit series starts with a bit of a whimper. Rain and a leaky basement have canceled the titular duo’s vacation plans, so Wallace decides to turn their house into a resort locale for the townsfolk. Once people start showing up, however, the game really picks up.
The pace and overall flow of “Last Resort” is much smoother and more engaging than “Fright of the Bumblebees.” The story actually has a nice, natural flow, and as the player, you can better chart your progression through the story, even through the non-linear bits, a problem that “Fright” couldn’t seem to solve in the third act. And though the Whodunit isn’t all that interesting by itself, it leads to some of Telltale’s classic humor that translated very well in Sam and Max and the Dangeresque episode of Strong Bad. There is only a point or two throughout the whole story where I thought things got derailed by a poor puzzle or lame plot.
A lot of the same problems pop up again in Episode 2, however. The X-Box control scheme still doesn’t have the same fluidity of the keyboard and mouse, and unfortunately, the PC version really suffers for it. The mouse controls are difficult and nearly useless, and controlling Wallace or Grommit with the keypad feels clumsy. Also, the extended sequences in which you play as Grommit still don’t feel quite right. The mute PC doesn’t really work for this type of game, as Grommit really isn’t able to provide players feedback on puzzles and he’s very limited in his ability to interact with other characters.
Extra Features:
Only a preview of the next episode is included. The mystery story has a boatload of optional dialog and actions, but once you see it, you’ve pretty much exhausted all Wallace and Grommit have to offer.
Technical:
The review build of the game was again very buggy. The audio especially had a difficult time syncing and would at times fall way behind the action on-screen. Also, there were a few really odd graphical glitches where characters would get trapped in odd loops or not perform actions that the scene dictated they should. TellTale is usually great about patching these things up for retail, however.
Graphics:
One thing I noticed this time out, and it’s actually kind of interesting, that they’ve translated some of the flaws in the clay models into the game. It’s a little thing that you probably won’t notice unless you’re obsessive like me, but the characters have slight cracks and dents just like their clay counterparts. It’s actually kind of cool, and something that I really didn’t expect.
Though most of the locales in “Resort” get a big makeover, there’s actually not a whole lot of new content here. The living room that was walled off last game is accessible now, though it pretty much just serves to spread the action out a bit more. Also, for whatever it’s worth, they changed a lot of the camera angles for the rooms they used in “Fright” for this game.
Sound:
The dialog seems much sharper here, except in a few cases. Wallace has a much better script this time out, and the voice actor does a fine job of delivering it with the right amount of whimsy, though it’s a little hard to take the game seriously when Wallace doesn’t seem to have a sense of urgency about any of his tasks. The townsfolk are a bit of a rollercoaster, as some don’t have the same punch as they did last game. Mrs. Gabberly and Mr. Paneer, for example, are given much bigger roles, but don’t fill them out particularly well. It should be noted, however, that everyone is quite excellent during the “Clue” sequences.
The music is solid, as usual, but melts into the background a bit too much to be called “good.” I realize that it’s a bit player, but the music in games like Monkey Island and even Sam and Max were always so good, that you couldn’t help but enjoy them as much as the rest of the game. There’s actually a portion of the game where you can change the theme that’s playing to help solve a puzzle, which is a nice touch and the only point where the ambient sound is even noticeable.
Replay Value:
You might want to play through the investigation a few times, just to get a few extra chuckles out of the extraneous dialog, but there’s not much other reason to revisit. If you have a choice between the two, however, I think it might be worth it to try the X-Box demo to see if you have an easier time adjusting to the controls.
Final Score: 7.5/10
I think TellTale had a better feel for Wallace and Grommit this time out. The script was much stronger and tighter, and while the puzzles didn’t really fit the world better, they were more entertaining and found a better balance between being challenging and impossible. While I’m still not sold on the Grommit PC scenes, at least by himself, I don’t think they ruin the experience at all.
Overall, “Last Resort” is a much better introduction to the series than “Fright of the Bumblebees” was. While “Fright” seemed to be about throwing as many ideas at the wall as they could come up with and seeing what stuck, “Resort” is a little more reserved and focused on getting the player to have fun, which is what Wallance and Grommit should really be all about.
If you’re interested in taking a look at the game, you can download a copy of the PC Demo at the TellTale Website.