Review: Wallace and Gromit’s Adventures, A Bumbling Journey

By: Daniel Lipscombe
Posted: Nov 12, 2009

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20 years is a long time, after two whole decades a lot can change. People move on, grow up and change their opinions of matters both trivial and of importance.

One thing that doesn’t often change is a person’s sense of humour, the same things that made you laugh as a child will often still tickle your funny bone as an adult, even if it’s ashamedly so. When Nick Park created Wallace and Gromit all those years ago and they ventured off into space in search of cheese, nobody knew that they would one day be the phenomenon that they are and nobody knew they would spawn videogames either.

Wallace and Gromit as characters suit the point and click genre perfectly, almost a northern, very British Sam and Max, although one of them isn’t that furry. With such a rich history of content, the transition from TV and film is an easy one.

There was very little for Telltale Games to do in terms of building an environment, most of it was already there. Everything from parodies of filmic legend to stereotypical British society is there on full display. The latter unfortunately is rather over blown and a little off kilter, specifically using an Indian character, Mr Paneer, to run the corner shop. This to me seems mildly crass, even if it is an archetype of British culture, a cheap laugh if you will.

Everyone and everything else fits nicely into Wallace’s world, a particular favourite being Duncan McBiscuit who plays a Scottish rogue who is attempting to win the heart of Wallace’s next door neighbour Miss Flitt. The banter and conversation between characters is quite inspired to begin with, only becoming stale after time. This is perhaps the need for repetition, which the genre is known for, but unfortunately for these episodes it does show weaknesses in the script. Another sad point regarding the voice acting and dialogue is the absence of Peter Sallis. When playing the original episode it was a shame but could be dealt with, as the episodes play on it becomes an increasing issue.

Despite these problems, Wallace and Gromits adventures aren’t without their charm. Each environment is lovingly created to match its subject matter and the stories are as interesting as the animated shorts. The only real low point of the season is ‘Muzzled’ which follows Gromits capture as we see him trying to help other captured dogs that are being used as workers for a carnival.

Although it’s a similar story to the others in a sense that it’s in the same vein, the actual meat and gravy of its telling is poorly executed. It’s interesting to see an underlying story appear from the third episode onwards, but this could have perhaps have been more solid and used from the start. Not only would it have helped to piece together a larger story but it would have kept gamers wanting to find out more.

But what is a point and click adventure without its puzzles? And these episodes are brimming over with them. Not all of them are intelligently designed; some are simple and require little more than combining a couple of items, whereas others will have you tracking back and forth using trial and error relentlessly.

The moments of magic do not come from the puzzles, nor the humour, the magic comes from Wallace and Gromit themselves. With Wallace being his usual bumbling self, causing more trouble than he’s worth and Gromit saving the day each and every time.

There’s a delightful charm every time Gromit rolls his eyes at Wallace or shakes his head at another stupid plan that will inevitably get them into trouble. Seeing them trot around solving puzzles with all the character that comes with the animated shorts is a joy, and the addition of finger prints in the character models is a wonderful touch.

It’s in these moments that Wallace and Gromits adventures brings back those fond memories of sitting round the TV with family at Christmas watching their latest calamity. However this image is unfortunately spoiled by the hiccups that plague each episode. While it’s an enjoyable adventure, it’s by no means going to beat other point and click games out there.

I do hold out hope for a second season though, given that are some great ideas here and a second time round would surely nail the execution.