Family Game Night 2 is the treacherously long awaited sequel to the completely mediocre 2008 release of Hasbro’s Family Game Night on the PS2 and Wii. To help soften the seething burn of anticipation for this must-forget sequel, EA saw to it that fans were able to download an enhanced version of the original for Xbox Live Arcade early on in 2009 and later, in October of the same year, through the Playstation Store. Still, the bridge of time that fans had to see pass before Family Game Night 2 hit store shelves in its splendid mediocrity seemed nearly unfathomable and unforgivable.
Thankfully the wait is over. No longer will any family or close group of friends (Remember: Friends are the family you really want to play board games with, be they virtual or not) have to finagle the confusing and choke-inducing tiny plastic hazards of Operation out of a dusty cardboard box from the back of a closet. Families across the Wii-owning populous can, at last, rest easy knowing that a machine designed for the sole purpose of entertainment is responsible for setting their Jenga blocks on a level surface – solid, stable, and always perfectly aligned. Always.
The virtual façade of Pictureka is an ever-changing landscape that scarcely faults wayward exuberance to memory retention. A fallacy of human error in constant tandem to setting up the same old board, over and over again, with each and every family game night suffered through sitting at a table instead of on a couch – in front of people instead of a television. The love that once turned to hate during Connect Four registers little lower than spiteful indifference. A game that is capable of destroying families is finally safe to enjoy. No child need will themselves to sleep under the terrifying glazed stare of a Mr. Potatohead set menacingly amidst the nighttime shadows of a bookshelf or toy chest, wondering if he’ll come to life in the middle of the night, to host a game show.
Family Game Night 2 features classic and revamped, not possible in real life, versions of Connect 4, Pictureka, Jenga, Operation, and Bop-It. Connect 4 Remix throws in bonuses that allow additional moves, skipping turns, vanishing chips, and for some reason - a scoring system. Jenga is a whole new world of hatred for the poor Wii-mote that did absolutely nothing wrong and doesn’t deserve that kind of rage. The remix version of Jenga limits the player to certain blocks, blocks that explode, and attempting to put blocks that have become self-aware back into the tower before they successfully escape the atrocity that is Jenga Remix.
Pictureka works remarkably similar to the physical version of the game, except the added sound effects for the plethora of doodles and tempered quick-draw action made the experience much more fun than the contemporary version. Operation is playable. I liken the experience to having absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go and no one to hang out with on a Saturday night, it may be kind of depressing and lonely but hey, there’s always Operation. Operation gets bonus points in my book for the extraction sequence that reminded me of Star Fox, which I played immediately afterwards. My friends and I agreed that Star Fox on single player was much better than Operation on multiplayer.
Bop-It is almost a saving grace. If you’ve got a group of friends that have decent hand-eye coordination, then Bop-It has potential to be a lot of fun for everyone involved provided they can handle a wonky control scheme. Games can be played by simply choosing them from a shelf or at random by entering Game Show mode, which pits each player against each other in a series of short games from each category. Awards are achieved by completing assorted in-game challenges. These awards are various customizable parts for the host, Mr. Potatohead or hostess, Mrs. Potatohead, depending on how you decide to roll.
Family Game Night 2 provides five games and a Potatohead that are all quite fun in good company provided the television is not involved. I’ve played Family Game Night 2 and all of the real games that provided a basis of virtual interpretation for it with a group of friends and some family members and we all agreed (so very close to unanimously too) that all of these games (and the Potatohead) are much, much better in their original physical forms. Family Game Night 2 is priced much more conservatively than adding up the cost of the individual games that it features, and children may get a kick out of seeing a lively potato monster... but it also takes away much of the camaraderie of sitting around a table and enjoying each other’s company.
The Good
Tag Sale: A much better value for five games than forking over the cash for a physical version of each game.
Unanimous: Pictureka was the only game that we all agreed was much better in virtual form.
The Bad
Almost Real: True to real life, waiting for your turn is like torture and incredibly boring.
All Too Common: Inane extras like customized playing environments. Music made to hate.
Quick and Annoying: Game modes that last one or two rounds.
The Ugly
We Really Tried: but couldn’t keep playing for more than 45 minutes at a time. Something designed strictly for entertainment purposes annoyed and bored us.
Completely Ruined the Market for This: Mario Party.
Disclosure: Retail copy of the game provided for review by EA.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Simon
said:
|
... Thanks for stopping by Poob! After this and the Vegeta comment, you're our second favorite troll after the eloquent Mr. Roscoe. |
|
