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Fairytale Fights Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Fairytale Fights Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Blood’s in the Air

Once upon a time, there was a little red-hooded friend that came straight out of a fairytale. Leaving her peaceful and adorable village behind, she decided to embark upon the greatest adventure of her life; it was an adventure that involved unimaginable dangers and blood thirst. But she didn’t care; she was ready to take on anything and anyone in her way. All it took was to open up one of her books, and off she went! She travelled through chapter after chapter of pure mayhem.

Fairytale Fights screenshot

That’s how the game started, but of course, she wasn’t the only fairytale hero anxious to become popular once again. Soon you’ll learn the forest is plagued with all sorts of infamous characters looking for notoriety at any price, such as the lumberjacks and the gnomes. They will all do whatever it takes, and it’s in your hands to help.

At the beginning of the game, you’ll become one of four fairytale characters (Little Red Riding Hood, Jack – from Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, or the Naked Emperor). Your mission will be to slice your way through the levels with the help of wonderfully dangerous weapons; blunt or sharp, heavy or light, it doesn’t matter – they all have their purpose. In fact, you’ll be surprised to see what a swordfish can do, or a mandolin, or a mailbox, or an ice cream stick… everything counts in this game, and in fact, you’ll have to try out the dozens of weapons you’ll find along the way, because you never know what kind of damage they can do! Damage and carnage is what this game is all about anyway.

Okay, now you’re wondering: what’s up with all this crazy bloodshed? I thought this game was about fairytales, and I thought it was the perfect action-platformer for kids! Well, you thought wrong. This mature rated game vaguely tells its own stories, mixing up characters, environments, and memorabilia from well-known fairytales. However, the storytelling is weak, with no character voices or narration whatsoever; just a few grunts, laughs, and screams is all you’ll hear. The varied, jazzy tunes are perhaps the best it has to offer within this world in disarray. The visuals may look appealing for kids as well, but those bubbly figures with puffy eyes just carry resentment and a death wish. This may sound funny and even appealing for fans of sick cartoons such as the Happy Tree Friends (which I enjoy), but unfortunately the quality is not there.

Fairytale Fights screenshot

The game controls are not very intuitive, and when you finally get the hang of them, they still leave a lot to be desired. Moving the character where you want him to go is no easy feat; picking up the weapon you want when there’s more than one in the ground doesn’t always happen on the first try; even assaulting the enemy or blocking attacks can be tough. Not to mention the fact that attacks and chained strikes are done with the left control stick, which feels weird and unpredictable. This mechanic has been tried in previous games, but in this one it just doesn’t work. To top it off, when you kill enemies, you have to pick up the coins around you, just like if you were a five year old playing a terrible cartoon-inspired game. There’s nothing I hate more – either the coins come to me, or I’m leaving them behind!!!

Even when it comes to platforming, I found the controls in Fairytale Fights to be fairly unreliable, resulting in unnecessary deaths down a gap or under the axe of a twisted foe. There are segments with spiky rotating logs, circular saws, etc. that don’t just look like a nightmare, but they become one. Missing the jump is easy, and stopping your character on time is not; therefore, you’ll often end up with your head split open or turning into mere ground beef. Worst of all, boss fights are as painful as the rest of the gameplay, if not more. Even when you learn the bosses’ patterns and try to avoid their strikes, they always manage to get you. Luckily for everyone, you’re allowed to lose as many lives as you want, and it’ll only count towards your final score in that chapter – oh yeah, and you’ll lose some coins.

Fairytale Fights screenshot

The game has two gameplay choices: the story mode we’ve been talking about, which involves both platforming and lots of hack ‘n slashing, and the arena mode, which pits you against other characters in a small scenario with limited access to weapons. Neither one of them was truly enjoyable, but the arena mode is the worst of the two, even when played against other players either locally or online. You can brawl against others, chop off their limbs, and see who’s more sanguinary, but ultimately, it’s all just fighting chaos with little rhyme or reason. You can also play the story mode cooperatively, and they can easily drop in and out, but that just means it’ll be two of you dealing with the redundant gameplay rather than just one.

Fairytale Fights screenshot

Like I mentioned before, the visuals may look funny and funky enough to appeal to some players, and at the same time, they look sufficiently childish that some kids and parents may get confused about the intended audience of this game. However, it’s not a game for everyone. I initially enjoyed the vibrant environments and cartoonish character designs, as awkward as they may be. Unfortunately, the camera is always panned out, not letting you see exactly what’s going on, and all those powerful colors and wacky designs just turn into pure chaos and confusion. One couldn’t tell if you’re picking up a bird nest or a broomstick, a ruler or a saw, if it wasn’t for the text up above telling you what you grabbed. Also, the blatant gore inspiration of the game doesn’t translate into a delightful gore-fest. You’re rarely treated to nice limb-chopping scenes that are worth your time. The game tries to zoom in and show you on one side of the screen, but it happens so fast you can barely see it in detail. Sure, the enemies split into pieces and there’s a lot of blood on the ground after you kill them, but it might as well be ketchup!

All in all, nothing can save this game. There might be a small bunch of people who can make the best out of it, but it truly isn’t a worthwhile experience, especially at its outrageous full retail price. Despite its good overall potential, large amount of long and short range weapons, and the many unbelievable promises, the linearity of the levels, lackluster storytelling, redundant and unpleasant action gameplay, unsophisticated and unpolished controls, and lack of the promised gore turned Fairytale Fights into a nightmarish yarn you should probably avoid.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.4 Graphics
The funky visual style of the game is fun and could have been great, but it didn’t translate well into action. Levels look too busy, and the camera is extremely zoomed out, so you can’t see what’s going on. 2.2 Control
There was a chance for enjoyable gameplay here, but it was crushed by frustrating and inconsistent controls. 3.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
After all the chaos, the jazzy tunes seemed to stand out in the game. Unfortunately, there’s no narrator and no character voice acting. Just a few grunts and screams is all you’ll hear. 2.0 Play Value
Despite its many promises, this game falls short, with redundant gameplay, unreliable controls, and lackluster storytelling. 2.4 Overall Rating – Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Volumetric Liquid! – Developed by Playlogic Game Factory, the Volumetric Liquid System allows multiple liquids to blend together. Deep red blood will drench the lush surroundings (and players!), as you slice up the enemies not once, not twice, but multiple times in a frenzied attack! You can also slide through the pools of blood, creating a blood stained platform in seconds (hell you could even write your name!) You can melt your enemies (or friends) using Acid Potions and much, much more!
  • Dynamic Slicing! For the first time ever take full control over how & when to slice and dice your enemies as fully textured, 3D Polygon models will drench the lush surrounding in a sea of limbs and blood! When using a Glory Attack, you’re given a window of opportunity to go crazy and slice up your enemies not once, not twice, but multiple times in a frenzied attack! All this can be seen in close-up thanks to the adjustable PnP window.
  • Dynamic Bone Crushing – An adaptation of the Dynamic Slicing, is the Dynamic Bone Crushing, which allows you to crush the skeletal structure of your enemies using PnP technology
  • Multiplayer Mayhem! – Fairytale Fights is one of the most accessible platform adventure games ever! Offering a mix of bloody visceral violence, and packed with adventure, it’s great fun for both hardcore and casual gamers alike. The ease of drop in drop out co-op gameplay makes Fairytale Fights an easy choice in any gamer’s collection. Featuring up to 4 players on and offline, Fairytale Fights is the ideal game to play with friends!
  • PvP Arenas – Try your hand at a range of PvP arenas to score the highest kill count!
  • Huge Arsenal of Weapons! – Featuring is crammed with 140+ weapons, (each with multiple uses), eliminate foes in multiple ways from slicing and dicing, to freezing, or fire! Burn skin from their bones with Acid Attacks or shove them into oncoming trains!
  • Based on the Unreal Engine 3 – Fairytale Fights is based on the Unreal Engine 3. A Fairytale Kingdom, rich in life & color where you can drench the lush surroundings (or other players) with deep red blood, bile or limbs, and brain from fallen foes.
  • Multiple Difficulties – Fairytale Fights features 3 difficulty levels, with multiple enemies. Increase the enemy count to increase the gore factor!

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