G-Force review

But does it work? Well… kinda? G-Force uses the “anaglyph” system for its 3D, which is a completely different system for creating stereoscopic effects than the polarization method used to make the movie’s 3D effects. Basically, the anaglyph system uses the old blue-and-red 3D glasses instead of the polarized silver ones you get when you see a current 3D movie in theaters.Look it up on Wikipedia if you’re curious to know more of the techy stuff.

The end result of the game’s 3D is this: there are a few cool moments in which you’ll notice objects that pop off the screen or neat little immersive effects, but since the glasses are the old blue-and-red style, the game’s overall color scheme gets all messed up. We feel a little gypped, honestly - we’d rather wait until the technology in televisions advances to the point where we don’t have to sacrifice visual fidelity or color to experience true 3D.

But regardless of any visual wowery, 3D doesn’t make G-Force any more fun. One final word of warning: if you decide to rent G-Force first to try out the 3D for yourself (and we recommend you do), make sure you check for the 3D glasses in your game case: video store employees might forget to include them or throw in the glasses for Coraline instead, which don’t work. Renter beware!

G-Force is a well-executed game with a few neat touches, but it ultimately becomes repetitive and bland. We can understand that, since a game adaptation of a movie has a price point of about five times a movie ticket, and one should reasonably expect about five times the content. But when your source material is a bunch of guinea pigs running around in spy gear, do we really need to experience 10-plus hours of this? If you’re thinking of buying the G-Force game, try this experiment: go to the movie theater and sit through the G-Force movie. Don’t leave the theater after the movie is done; instead, watch it five times in a row. If you have any love for the little rodents left once you’re done, go ahead and buy G-Force for your home console. Otherwise, wait until the game inevitably finds its way into the bargain bin, and then pick it up if you’re curious.

Jul 28, 2009