Naughty Bear Review
Naughty Bear Review by Jose Bear
If you go down to the woods today you’re probably going to die!
The Plot
Provided with an unfortunate name is it really any wonder that Naughty Bear was outcast from the small community or Perfection Island that thrives with brightly coloured stuffed bears?
We join Naughty at roughly the same psychological point as when Michael Douglas was denied a fast food breakfast two minutes after service has stopped and the results are just as catastrophic and entertaining.
From here on the game plays out in the manor of an episodic child’s television series with each episode providing a new plot for our hero to try and foil.
Game Play
To call Naughty Bear a sandbox game would be an insult to games like Saint’s Row and GTA 4, not because of quality (well, maybe a little) but because of size and scope, as every level here is played on the same small map. At a push I suppose you could call it a litter box game but I think the phrase may be misconstrued.
The first thing that a player will need to understand is that Naughty Points mean everything. They are the marker against which all game progress is made; whether it’s to unlock another challenge or another costume, you will need points and lots of them.
Points are scored in a number of ways (over two hundred and fifty to be precise) and stringing point scoring moves together is a tactic that you will want to master. Scoring moves can vary from smashing windows to setting traps to sabotaging anything and everything you can get your paws on but the big points are reserved for the brutal murder of the islands other residents. Luckily Perfection Island has a plethora of traps and weapons strewn across it and everything you tamper with can become a death machine so there is plenty of opportunity for experimentation and variation. If the violent termination of stuffed animals plays on your heartstrings just a little too much then fear not; the good folk at Artificial Mind and Movement have you covered. The solution to end your guilt ridden turmoil is to simply scare the bears to the point where they decide to take their own lives. If, on the other hand, you have no problem ending the lives of the spiritual descendants of Teddy Ruxpin, Winnie the Pooh and any number of combinations of the Gummi Bears then I urge you to experiment with the weapons and watch out for when the bears are showing signs of injury. Once they’re injured you can trigger some laugh out loud weapon specific executions.
Do not be duped though. These bears fight back, organise themselves and call for help.
Stealth can be another key ingredient to success here. If you’re too open about your actions then the other bears will rally together and barricade themselves into a secure environment and if this happens your chance of maintaining your multiplier throughout reduces exponentially. If a bear does break from the pack the chances are that they are doing it to call for help and in Naughty Bear; ‘help’ means special bears with powerful weapons.
Naughty Bear offers game play that is both simplistic and quite complex at the same time. Okay; it’s not rocket science but for those Arcade gamers amongst you that love nothing more than going on high score runs; NB will get you thinking. If you’re going to the ever elusive Platinum Trophy (this is an ‘in game’ trophy and not a PSN platinum) then you will need to be able to formulate and execute a well time plan as well as being able to adapt on the fly to cover the inevitable changes in routine without losing your essential score multiplier.
The premise of Naughty Bear is a simple one; ‘Punish the other bears and escape alive while earning as many naughty points as possible’ and using this technique will see you safely through the seven chapters of the game.
Unlocking the seven chapters however, will take some time and dedication. Each chapter has five additional challenges with specific goals that must be adhered to in order to pass and ultimately progress in the game. There are four trophies available on each chapter/challenge and it is only by achieving a certain number of bronze, silver or gold trophies that the later chapters/challenges will unlock. There is also a level of experimentation that can go some way to extending the longevity of the challenges as there are roughly thirty different costumes to unlock with each costume having its own attributes and special abilities, these range from faster movement to starting with a powerful weapon to being able to move among the residents without being spotted. Equip the correct outfit for the challenge you’re undertaking and life will seem a whole lot better.
Challenges vary from chapter to chapter but they will be from this selection:
Insanity
The key here is to drive the bears insane (I know right, who saw that one coming?) and score as many naughty points as possible. This means sabotaging as much as possible and laying traps. Once you see a bear trapped or trying to repair something then you can unleash the ‘Super Scare’ on them. Two or three of these is enough to drive a bear insane to the point of suicide, although, suicide is not essential in these challenges.
Invisibility
Get seen any more than five times during the mission and its mission over. Stay stealthy and move as quickly as possible.
Killer
Kill every bear on the island. If help arrives then kill them too. It doesn’t matter if you use contextual kills, a stick, a ray gun, your paws, anything goes.
Friendly
This is a strictly no combat mission type. The challenge is complete when all the bears are dead but you cannot hurt any of them yourself. Cause as much panic as you can and then chuckle as the bears start to end their own lives in some truly comedy fashions.
Speed Run
Get through an entire chapter in a set amount of time. You will need to move fast and kill efficiently if you’re going to pass these as the time limits are quite harsh.
Untouchable
Possibly my least favourite of the challenges; the object here is to take no damage. And I mean NO DAMAGE. The challenge ends when the objectives are met but one false step into a bear trap you’ve set and it’ll all be over before you’ve realised what’s happened.
Top Hat
Kill the bear with the funny hat. Enough said.
Although each challenge has its own specific objective there are some that span right the way across such as not letting anyone escape and destroying ‘X’ amount of collectables.
Online
Online consists of integrated leader boards to compare you challenge and episode scores to those of your peers as well as four competitive game modes.
Cake Walk
Hold onto the Golden Cupcake for as long as possible. When you’re in possession of it the victory timer will count down but your movement will be slowed and you will not be able to attack or defend yourself.
Golden Oozy
You need to get a certain number of kills with the Golden Oozy. Only kills with this weapon will count towards the total but be aware that there is only one on the map and it will make you a target for every other player.
Assault
This is an attack and defend mode with a difference. Successfully defend you Unibear statue in one round and you gain a point. Successfully destroy the enemy statue in the next and you’ll win.
Jelly Wars
One team needs to collect Jelly and take it to their base, the other needs to sabotage their mixer and kill the collectors. First one to achieve their teams goal wins.
Although all of these game modes offer quite a vast number of players I seriously doubt that any with have any lasting appeal and you may need to source players for yourselves if you want to try it out.
This is another example of a game that is only let down by the addition of multiplayer but at least there are no random Bid Daddies.
Graphics & Sound
This is where Naughty Bear takes an unfortunate downturn for me but it’s not a deal breaker if you remember that 505 Games publish mainly budget titles. Another noteworthy point is that although A2M are not new to the business, this is only the second game they have developed for the current generation of consoles (I am excluding the Wii and all handhelds from this statement just in case any of you think the Wii/DS is comparable to the 360/PS3).
Does this give them a pass? No, but it does give them a lighter sentence.
The graphics are no worse than those seen in many TV shows on CBeebies (other children’s entertainment channels are available) and given the art direction Naughty Bear has taken I really don’t see that there is a problem with this. The only thing that concerns me is the graphical performance issues the game has.
There is a fair amount of clipping, slowdown, screen tearing and, in some instances, game freezing but that’s become the norm for the ‘Release now, patch later’ mentality of modern ‘connected’ gaming we’re living in; hasn’t it?
The camera and mini map could also have used some extra attention but they’re in no way the worst I have encountered in recent years. In fact; they’re not even the worst I’ve encountered in the past few months and the same can be said about the sound.
Yes the sounds get repetitive and yes they’re not of the highest quality but there are other games that have far less unique lines of dialogue.
I’m not going to defend Naughty Bear to the hilt by any means. I was infuriated during a lot of the challenges solely because the scare is identical every time and seeing as I wasn’t killing bears I was not getting the witty one liners of the voice over. This alone was enough to drive me to the point of near suicidal! Then again I suppose A2M could say that they have cleverly made me feel more connected to the bears of Perfection Island and that it was intended all along.
Final Thoughts
Naughty Bear is not an awful game.
It will have appeal for casual or ‘High Score’ gamers and is a pleasant enough way to pass a few hours at a less hectic pace for anyone. It will make you laugh and cry (through frustration at not being able to hit the mute button on your TV remote quick enough if you’re anything like me) and it will make a surprising amount of your time disappear with its ‘One more go’ game play.
It may have its graphical and performance issues and the longevity for anyone who does not suffer from completionist compulsion syndrome* can be called into question but it is fun while it lasts and the last time a checked that’s what a game is meant to be. Fun!
If you have read multiple reviews of Naughty Bear then you will probably noticed the fluctuating scores and one that subject I only have one thing to say.
I try not to read other peoples reviews of games I am writing about as I want the words I put together to be about my experiences and opinions and not those of anyone else. Naughty Bear has been an eye opener for me as I have broken this rule and ventured out into the realm of both fan and professional review sites. What I have seen has quite frankly shocked me. Everyone of the low scores I have seen have been written by people who by their own admission have only played for an hour or two, only done a couple of chapters and even less of the challenge variations.
I will not name any names be whether they’re getting paid to provide you with an honest opinion of a game or not I cannot see how these people can justify reviewing a game based on just a few short hours. It is completely ‘Beyond’ me. Anyone who has actually invested any amount of time into Naughty Bear before writing about it seems to have a much higher opinion of it.
You can rest assured that this and every other review you may read on Genuine Gamers is based on many many hours of game play and we certainly try absolutely everything that a game has to offer before passing judgement.
(*probably not a real thing)
Overall
6/10
Consumer Opinion
Buy – If you’re a completionist then the budget price tag will provide you with a massive return on your money. But be prepared to invest the time because whether you’re going for all platinum medals or 100% GS you’re going to be in for a long ride
Rent – If you just want to see what the fuss is about.
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