Pac-Man World 3
Score: 85% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Namco Developer: Blitz Games Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Platformer/ Platformer (3D)/ Arcade
Graphics & Sound: Say what you will about rehashed classics or sequel mania. Pac-Man World 3 comes as close as possible to being both a fun game in its own right and a nostalgic trip through gaming's "pac alley." It doesn't seem that long ago when I played a previous installment on PS or PS2, and the PSP version doesn't lose anything in translation. The graphics are excellent, and there are only minor camera issues that detract from your enjoyment of the large levels. Visual and audio clues are important in detecting how long Pac-Man can stay charged and gobble ghosts, and in these big 3D environments, it would be easy to get lost without good, clean design. Ironically, the dot trail we all know from the Pac-Man of yore ends up being a great way to lead players through each level. One really nice visual touch is how the dots are scattered along the ideal path, so that when you need to jump, the dots form a nice arc from platform to platform. And you do a lot of jumping, of course. The music and sound effects are good, and there are nice retro effects seeded throughout the game. Especially when you pick up special tokens, power up or die, the sounds are straight from the classic version of Pac-Man. A nice touch, to be sure. There is plenty of variety visually, and level designers really put some care into little touches like the lighting and particle effects.
Gameplay: Describing Pac-Man World 3 is tricky. It is more than a 3D platformer, but it is better in this category than anywhere else. If I had to predict whether fans of the arcade Pac-Man have taken to the "world" concept, I would say reception has been mixed. The clean simplicity of the original game is changed dramatically. There's dialogue and a story here, and the ghosts now talk and team up with Pac-Man... If that's not enough to have Pac-Fans wondering where their maze went, the really "amazing" part would be how smoothly the developers managed to integrate classic Pac-Man play with standard 3D Platformer convention. The story, like that of most platformers, is not incredibly endearing, but suffice it to say that Pac-Man is pulled out of a birthday party (plug that 25th anniversay, Namco!) to run off and help save the world from the threat of...Erwin. Yes, Erwin. This madman has ghostnapped several of Pac-Man's previous enemy combatants and plans to harness them to some apocalyptic machine. Pac-Man, with the help of Orson (playing a good "Q" to Pac's Bond), must find and destroy Erwin's Spectral Syphons and rescue the ghosts. The first several levels introduce most all the gameplay elements and bad guys. Even though the last half of the game is variation on a theme, there are enough themes here to keep any gamer happy. As 3D platformers go, Pac-Man World 3 is good enough to work without the license, which really says something for the developers. It's unfortunate that more quality games like this aren't built around new stories and characters, but licenses sell enough crappy games to keep the sequel craze alive. Some of the special elements in Pac-Man World 3 are the inclusion of mazes in a "2.5D" perspective that can be discovered in each area. Collectible cards with images from the game are also scattered throughout the game, along with one other special collectible item. Outside the main game, it is possible to replay the mazes you have found, or go to a special lounge that includes a playable version of the original classic 2D game, a viewer for the cards you have found during the game, and a preview of the upcoming Pac-Man racing title from Namco. I like that accomplishment in the maze levels is cumulative and can be saved apart from the saves you make to your platforming levels. The system for saving twice is a little clunky, and there is the danger of thinking you have saved the game when you actually have only saved your maze information. What really stands out in Pac-Man World 3 is the ability to host a game wirelessly with up to four players. Participants do not even have to have a Pac-Man World 3 UMD to play, which is awesome! For all the grief people give Sony about proprietary systems, the PSP's new ability to broadcast and share games is a smart, smart move. Sony is smart because people who play good games as "clients" will want to go out, get the game, and share it with their friends. Making people both buy copies of a game to play wirelessly is so 20th Century, don't you think?
Difficulty: Like any good platformer, Pac-Man World 3 rewards the persistent and patient. Very little of the frustration comes from poor design or poor camera work. The levels combine raw destruction and button-mashing battles with some finesse and problem-solving. The amount of puzzle work may surprise those who come to this thinking it is just a series of 3D, dot-gobbling levels. In many cases, the objective can be a bit opaque, especially for younger players. Visual cues, like cut scenes that show a door somewhere in a level that matches the key you just got, help direct the player. Other cues like the dot trail or changes in the environment are also enough to keep any seasoned platform fan and even some newcomers on track. There really aren't big boss battles, which makes it easier for patient players who don't like button-mashing or big all-or-nothing battles.
Game Mechanics: Controlling Pac-Man through the levels is made easy enough by analog or D-pad options for movement. Special moves are explained as they are introduced, and special power-ups or items are introduced slowly, rather than lumped into one level or in a training segment. I hate training segments. All games should have as nice and smooth a ramp-up as Pac-Man World 3. The hard stuff comes in gradually, and elements like disappearing platforms are introduced and mastered before they are combined with switches or layed out as jumps. Blitz, the developer, really rose to the occasion here and built a fun title that is sometimes hard, without being hard to play. The difference is huge, in "platform world." Initiating wireless play is as simple as hosting a game and opening it up to client players. The selection of game options for multiplayer wireless is somewhat limited, but doing it at all is what will impress most people. Pac-Man World 3 brings back some elements from previous games, like a butt-bounce, but also manages to include some cool power-ups that look more like something from Ratchet & Clank than a 25-year old arcade game. Not that everyone has to love this game, but when you can find another 3D platformer that is fun, true to a franchise that is already three titles old on consoles and over two decades old in the arcades, you let me know. Pac-Man World 3 is a remarkably solid platformer, and one hell of a lot of fun for Pac-Fans out there.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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