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"Bumpety Bump Bump"

Being a money conscious gamer, I'm always on the prowl for a good bargain. I'm the one scrambling through the Toys-R-Us bargain bin or tearing apart the Kmart clearance rack. So when Burger King announced their $4.00 line of adver-games, it was all too tempting a lure. This was one bargain game I wouldn't have to scrounge through immense piles of discounted Ping Pals and generic wrestling games. With this in mind, I soon found myself eating a value meal and coddling my small stack of propaganda.

Graphics
Having bought the game from Burger King, I expected to be overwhelmed with advertisements and promotions, but in fact the most surprising thing about Big Bumpin' is its lack of in-game advertisement. Don't get me wrong though, this is actually somewhat of a relief. But don't forget that this is a Burger King game, and the game still has the stamp of the corporation. The game opens with video footage of the real King eerily smiling and giving you a thumbs up, and the character roster consists of notable Burger King icons such as the King, Whopper Jr., and the Subservient Chicken. However, these are the only really notable characters, as the rest are extremely generic humans. Even still, it doesn't really matter which character you play, because once the game starts and the camera positions itself away from the playing field, it's almost impossible to tell anyone apart. All the humans look the same, the chicken looks like the King, and the King looks like everybody else. The only distinguishable character is Whopper Jr. This is due in part to the camera being placed so far away, but is also the fault of some awful character design. The characters are fairly low-poly, and their blocky features are covered in grainy, bland textures. Fortunately, the only time you get a good look at the characters is at the beginning and end of a match. With the camera placed high above the rink, it's hard to tell how little detail was put into the character models. The rink itself, on the other hand, actually looks fairly decent. Complete with awkward mechanical moving parts, the five, colorful rinks have a certain charm to them, and certainly add an interesting atmosphere to the game. Big Bumpin' can also be played in an Xbox 360 with upgraded visuals.

Sound
Surprisingly, Big Bumpin' sports an excellent original soundtrack. There are only about five songs that the game cycles through, and a few of these are forgettable, but what's there is actually pretty good. The sound effects, on the other hand, are muffled and hard to hear, easily overshadowed by the music. While this does make the game feel somewhat cold and distant, it may be for its benefit to spotlight the music over the sound effects, as I can't imagine that they are any good.

Gameplay
Big Bumpin' is unique in that, as far as I know, it's the only game of its kind. While I'm sure bumper cars have made their appearance in other games, Big Bumpin' can take the credit of being the first game to be entirely based on the amusement park ride. Much like the ride, however, there isn't a whole lot to the game. The developers were able to scrape together five different game types that take advantage of the bumper car based action, but only a few of these prove to be very much fun. “Bumpin' Hockey”, a game in which players use their cars to attempt to bump a giant sized puck into the opponents goal, is the most tedious, uneventful way to play hockey. I have yet to actually make it through an entire match of Bumpin' Hockey, as everyone I've tried it with mutually agrees to play something else after only a few moments. Another game mode, “Power Surge”, puts players in a race to collect electricity and deliver it to a drop off point. There is only one charge to be collected and delivered at a time, and it is everyone else's task to beat it out of the holder. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to beat a charge out of someone before they make it to the goal, and the game simply becomes a race to see who actually gets the charge first. “Last Man Standing”, the game mode that comes closest to actual bumper cars, is mildly amusing. “Shockball”, a hot potato like game mode in which players pass a bomb around by bumping into each other, can provide mild entertainment, but the real fun comes in “Own the Puck”. “Own the Puck” is easily the best game mode in Big Bumpin'. In it a large puck bounces around the course, and when bumped it turns to that players respective color. The goal is to keep the puck your color as long as possible. “Own the Puck” can become very intense, and is a great multiplayer game. In fact, all of the game modes in Big Bumpin' are best experienced with multiple players. The single player is horrifically boring, and the only way to get a good feel for what Big Bumpin' has to offer is to invite three friends over and get in on some four player action. That is assuming you can actually convince your friends to try it.

Lasting Appeal
Big Bumpin' is the equivalent of one of the mini-games from Fusion Frenzy or countless other party games. It has no depth to it, and the one player isn't even worth bothering with. However, there is fun to be had with a group of friends. The fun won't last forever, and you'll probably tire of it after a short while, but it makes for a simple, entertaining filler between other, more intense games. At only four bucks, Big Bumpin' costs less than most Xbox live arcade games, and provides enough enjoyment to dignify the purchase. If nothing else, Big Bumpin' is an interesting collectors item, and could certainly act as a great conversation starter.

Points
+ Bumper Cars!
+ Multiplayer
+ Cheap
-- Single Player
-- Not much to do

Score: 6/10


Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/07