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By Keith B (11th Jun 2007)

“Flushed Away” is yet another example of a game released in an attempt to siphon off some of the hype surrounding the movie release of the same name. In it the player controls either Roddy or Rita, two rats who are trying to stop the evil Toad and his henchmen. The two run around on foot, battling baddies right and left. The duo can also utilize the Jammy Dodger, a boat that’s game play leaves much to be desired, as does the game itself.<br /><br />
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The problems with this game come early and often. The music is bland and tedious, quickly wearing thin and adding nothing to the game play experience. The cut scenes involving interactions with other characters such as Sullivan and Gilbert (Roddy’s two hamster butlers not present in the movie) are ridiculously dumbed down, with the programmers failingly trying to add pep to informative sessions. To add injury to insult, when Sid and Roddy meet in Roddy’s home, the cut scene is not even animated, but instead just a series of stills pulled straight from the movie with voiceover added in. This game was rushed, to say the least.<br /><br />
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The biggest problem with the game by a landslide is the absolutely atrocious camera angles. I can not stress this enough: They are god-awful, and completely uncontrollable. While playing through the game, I found myself constantly trying to prod the game to show me what was in front of me, what was behind me, or anything at all for that matter. At one point, I was in a dimly lit cave in the sewer, with only a side profile view of the character, attempting to make a jump around a corner. Another common situation was to be running through an entryway, and have the camera focus squarely on a wall when the player changes directions. With angles like these, much of the game becomes trial and error: This is where the unlimited continues and frequent checkpoints come in handy, one of the few redeeming qualities this title displays. The frequent deaths that result reveal the various sound effects used, such as a spirited guitar riff once a player has perished. I found myself jumping into the sewer water on more than one occasion just to break the monotony of the game and hear one of the clips. Yes, it really is that bad.<br /><br />
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There is nothing in this game that hasn’t already been done somewhere else, and much better. The environments, since they are from a rat’s perspective, have items at an unusually large size. This can be found in any one of the Army Men games released in the last ten years, and with better animation and shading. The repertoire of enemy retorts is also painfully small and unimaginative. After defeating a spider in battle, one of their three or so one liners is the inspired “I am defeated”. Missions, such as retrieving rare flies for a shifty consignment shop owner, seem pointless and are not at all entertaining. The controls are very jerky, and changing directions and jumping is always a challenge. It takes multiple tries to jump up on a box right in front of the character. Every time. Problems like this should not be present in a game.<br /><br />
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The voice-over quality of each of the characters was decent. Also, the different levels and sub sections do have some thoughtful challenges put into them. For instance, at one point Roddy has to get through a room by jumping on alphabet blocks. In order to not get killed by falling spikes from above, he must jump on the blocks based on what letter they represent, spelling “S-P-I-D-E-R”, alluding to one of the main enemies of the sewer. The two player mini games also have some limited entertainment value as well, if of course you can convince a friend to play with you. The fight scenes involving Roddy’s sword (which can also double as a propeller for boosting him across drifts) and Rita’s use of her grappling hook to avoid enemies are nice additions, but in no way do they make up for the multitude of faults present in the title.<br /><br />
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The guy at Blockbuster told me as I was embarrassedly renting the game “*Sigh*, you could do better”. If I could say one thing to the publishers of “Flushed Away”, that is exactly what I would tell them. This game suffers from a few problems that are obviously a lot bigger than the publisher anticipated. Poor controls + Poor camera angles= An unplayable game. “Flushed Away” is supposed to be geared towards children, but I doubt there are many out there who played it for longer than 15 minutes or so (Find me a kid 12 and under who even made it to the point where the player can access Rita, and I’ll find you a good game). The movie left some interesting loose ends for the game to expand on, and had a relatively hot youth following to capitalize on. Sadly, the game did not pick up in the footsteps of the movie. This one isn’t worth a rent, or a buy. Just plain avoid it.<br /><br />