Systems > PC > S > Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner > Staff Review
Sign up for a free user account and you can leave feedback for this review or even submit a game review of your own!
Review by Josh Higley
September 10, 2008
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People looks...well, fantastic is not the right word, 'convincing' maybe. The original website is all Flash, so it's very two dimensional. The game is 3d, but it has a very believable "everything seems 2d but really isn't" thing going for it. It actually looks like you're playing through an episode from the show, which isn't going to win it any awards for design excellence, but it's nice to know they cared enough to make it look right.
It sounds right too. The Free Country USA Triannual Race to the End of the Race is today, and our somewhat jerkish protagonist/tough guy Strong Bad (yes, that is his name) decides he wants to take part. Unfortunately, the sign ups ended a month ago, and so he has to puzzle his way into the race, and then clean up the mess he causes by getting into it.
There's nothing deep here, even by point-and-click standards, it manages to be shallow even in a genre that prioritizes being wacky over being deep. In the end you're just a guy in a wrestling mask wandering around a town with four houses, a castle, and a concession stand trying to get into a race. It's only really memorable because of its characters, and involves a lot of inside jokes. Realistically, unless you're already familiar with Homestar Runner, you're going to miss a fair bit while playing this game.
From the gameplay end, one of the best things about the game is that most of the puzzles actually make sense. While this wouldn't seem like a quality worth remarking on, point-and-clicks are infamous for having puzzles full of obtuse logic. What you have and what you need to accomplish are often so tenuously related that it may as well just be a crap shoot. Throw an item in your inventory at a puzzle, and when it doesn't work, try something else. Only when you select the right item via lottery does the game explain to you where it was going 'logically'. This is obviously aggravating, and this Game for Attractive people gets away from that.
Furthermore, your inventory is usually limited to a small number of things that are generally reusable. There are mission specific items, and your eventual objectives do tend to be obscure and fill inventory space, but for the most part, it stays fairly compact.
That said, the game is short, which isn't necessarily bad given its episodic nature, the problem is that it still manages to feel long even if a playthrough is only a few hours. And when I say 'feel long' I mean that with every bit of venom I can muster. Conversations are often laborious in their verbage, and cannot be skipped. Making a mistake in a puzzle often requires you to reinitiate an old conversation in order to try again, which leads to lots of repeat dialogue that begs to be skipped, and then mocks your inability to do so.
All in all, it's solid for what it is, but unless you really like logic puzzles involving everyday objects and cheating, the fact that it's a game will not make up for the fact that it's Homestar Runner if you don't enjoy the site. If you do enjoy the site, this game will be wonderful for you in spite of its flaws, which is probably what they were going for anyway.
|
|
|
Most recent video game reviews written by Josh Higley
Antipole (Xbox 360) [February 22, 2011]
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PlayStation 2) [January 08, 2011]
Saira (PC) [October 03, 2010]
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PlayStation 3) [May 08, 2010]
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii) [February 28, 2010]
|
You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!
|
|
|
Follow Us |
Advertise exclusively for 1 month... only $1000!
Recent Forum Discussions
+ Alpha Olympics 2012
+ Where's SkyWard Sword's review ? And please bring back the rating feature.
+ zippdementia's Mega Jump review
+ [News] Schafer has pitched Psychonauts 2, Minecraft dev says 'let's make it happen'
+ holdthephone's Final Fantasy XIII-2 review
+ JoeTheDestroyer's Area 51 review
+ playstation vita, yo.
+ RotW January 29 - February 04 2012
+ Games to be added to the database...
+ The Final Fantasy XIII-2 thread
+ [News] Final Fantasy X HD will be a remaster, not a remake
+ [News] Naughty Dog explored making a new Jak and Daxter, made Last of Us instead
Staff Game Reviews
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SoulCalibur V |
| The Simpsons Arcade Game |
| Quarrel |
| Star Ocean: The Last Hope |
| Pushmo |
| Medal of Honor: Airborne |
Site Staff
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |
Featured Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rayman Origins |
| Othello |
| Scarface: The World is Yours |
| The Last Express |
| Golden Axe II |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
Exclusive User Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Mega Jump |
| White Knight Chronicles |
| Dragon Wars |
| F-Zero GX |
| Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door |
| Pokemon Snap |
Info |
Help |
Privacy Policy |
Contact |
Advertise
© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.
