12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS #6 - THE OFFICIAL FATHER CHRISTMAS
Ho, Ho, Ho - I'm official!
Posted by boyo on Dec 12, 2010 22:24 (Dec 12, 2010 22:24)
Christmas is the time of year that brings joy, hope and happiness to one and all, especially to the retailers out there looking to make a fast buck selling Christmas themed tat to the over spending public, once again caught up in Yuletide "we'll" pay the credit card bill next year" spirit.
Picture the scene. It is late summer at the Alternative Software offices. The cash cow that is Christmas is months away but some 'creative' managerial spark suggests that their next game is based around Father Christmas and, to put the icing on the somewhat premature Christmas cake, the game will be official tm . One of the staff is then sent unceremoniously over to the North Pole to track down the bearded one, hand over a 6-figure royalty fee and before you could can say "what the hell is wrong with that reindeer's nose?", the official Father Christmas game was born, probably.
"Bah! humbug".
What we have in this £3.99 festive barrel of 'joy' is a game split over 3 levels, each lacking fun with a capital 'F'.
Level 1 sees the player controlling the red cheeked, sack carrying chappy in the red through his vast Grotto (well 6 screens) in order to find the MFI flat pack sleigh that has lost its packaging and been scattered over the screens. Retrieve the sleigh pieces and stage 2 beckons.
"Bah! A whole bag of humbugs".
Stage 2 involves you, the player, choosing presents to go on someone's Christmas list and then having to collect them as they fall from the frosty sky air. Time to take the dog for a walk methinks. Coming back to the game will see that magically, in your absence, all the presents you selected have been collected (must have been the elves) and are ready to deliver. I love these interactive games. Ah well, onto stage 3.
Stage 3 involves delivering the presents all over the stereotypically landscaped parts of the world - mud huts in Africa, terraced houses in Europe, sheep in the Welsh valleys! (Surely not? ED). All pretty realistic stuff, if you believe in Santa that is.
And there you go. The one saving grace for this game is that it was all done for a good cause, Children in Need. No excuse though for Alternative to develop such drivel for the unsuspecting Mum to pick up, with good intentions, for her little Charlie to play on Christmas day. This game really is a Christmas turkey.
