Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

It started with a dude in Toronto. Said dude crafted a fantastical version of reality set in his backyard that appealed to gamers and geeks from Gen-Y to the Millenials. I tried to get my dad in on the awesomeness but failed to appeal to his fortysomething sensibilities.

Rating: T (for Teen)
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Beat-Em-Up RPG
Release Date: August 25, 2010

BUY

On August 25, my husband, best friend, and I sat down to play Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World on XBLA in hopes that the game (whose resemblance to River City Ransom made my husband pee his pants a little) wouldn’t suck as hard as most movie-game tie-ins. In some ways, the game was a joy to play (the music, the art, and the environment). In others, it was a nightmare (game-play and controls).

Mostly, it was a raucously retro beat-em-up that ranks up there with the likes of Castle Crashers.

The Good

Music: Scott Pilgrim’s music was catchy, upbeat, and manically addictive to listen to. It set the tone for each of the levels, depending on which Evil Ex you were gearing up to fight and what kind of level it was.

Knives Chau: Summoning Knives Chau during the game provided serious buffs to the players, depending on who summoned her. Each character interacted with Knives differently. Ramona received coffee, which made everyone hyper. Kim Pine receives a full-on smooch from the adorable Knives. This caused the best friend to squeak with joy. It made the rest of us laugh. Along with being able to summon Knives at any time (providing that you had spare Willpower), you had the ability to combine your abilities to taunt the enemy and rain DOOM upon him/her/it. The one and only time we managed to sync up for that was truly glorious.

Stores and Shopping: One of the most integral parts of the game was the economy, which allowed you to collect coins from fallen enemies and spend them in various shops. The shops sold items that boosted your stats in various ways. This was dually true if you managed to find Wallace’s secret shop in the Shopping District. If you had the cash, he had the best items in the game to sell to you. Need a bionic arm? No problem! Fork over $140(ish) and it’s all yours! If you went into the store before you beat the living hell out of Roxie the Ninja, you could get some Ramen noodles. That’ll run you a couple (Canadian) dollars but you’ll gain some bonuses to your Hit Points and Willpower.

The Bad

Intervals of glitchiness and all-out frozen Xbox: In the three playthroughs of the game, I noticed that the most prevalent issue was the tendency for the game to glitch, freeze-up, and completely lock the console. The only fix that we found was to turn the music off. There was much sadness that followed as we all greatly enjoyed the music. I hear that the patch may fix these bugs but it wasn’t available when I wrote this review.

Unresponsiveness with Merchants: What’s more fun than sitting around waiting for the shop-keep to tell you that you’ve successfully purchased an item and would you like to buy something else before tearing your hair out from frustration and boredom? What’s more fun? Getting my teeth drilled, that’s what. We spent far too much time waiting around for one another to buy items that would help us in the upcoming fight because the merchants refused to speed their service up. If I could’ve filled out one of those customer complaint cards, no one in that game would have a job anymore.

Controls: Although the controls were easy to use, they were far too sensitive to be of any use during levels that required the utmost precision in the player’s actions (yes, even if you used the D-Pad instead of the Analog sticks). One wrong step and you’d be eating lava. Or blood. Or a fist-full of OUCH during a boss battle.

The Awesome

The Enemies: Unlike our plethora of games that have carbon-copied enemies, Scott Pilgrim’s enemies were varied, interesting, and pretty bad-ass. As you went through the game, even the most mundane looking enemies presented a challenge. If you didn’t want to be lit on fire, stomped to death, or dogpiled by a bunch of random dudes, you had to keep your guard up and keep moving. The minute you underestimated an enemy was the minute your character ate a mouthful of floor tile.

The Evil Exes were especially well done; the three-tier end-boss fight with Gideon was certainly an excellent climax.

The Weapons: Ever want to throw a brick at someone’s head? Or beat some random baddie down with a beach-ball while he’s dressed up like a robot on Hallowe’en? Me too. And then I did.

Just as with the enemies, the weapons were surprisingly varied. From bats to baseballs to beer bottles and beyond, Scott Pilgrim and his troupe of friends took full advantage of their surroundings in order to beat enemies into giving up the goods (coins).

Did I mention that Ramona just reaches into her bag to pull out random weapons during the game? Oh yeah, ’cause she does that. And its awesomeness is only matched by its handiness.

The Multiplayer: It’s really the only way to play this game. If you’re not playing multiplayer, you need to get some new friends that will play this game with you. The combined taunts. The ability to revive one another using CPR. Stealing your friends’ lives if you run out of lives yourself. Giving your friends money so they can eat Ramen noodles too. To not play this game with a group of friends is to seriously limit the enjoyment factor. Single player simply pales in comparison.

To say this game was punishing and difficult would be a litotes; if you’re not careful, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will find a way to eat your soul. Raw. With afternoon tea. Play the game on the normal difficulty until you’ve mastered the weapons, controls, and techniques to defeat the Evil Exes. Do yourself (and your soul) a favour: don’t be a hero.

Buy the game, play it with a group of your friends, and enjoy the beat-down you’re sure to receive.