Down in the Dumps

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a garbage dump? (No, don't worry, I'm not looking for roommates.) Well if you have, then a.) you're a sick person and b.) you should play this game.

Story

The Blub family (grandma, grandpa, mom, dad and the two kids) are travelling through space to their well deserved vacation when they're suddenly hit by the ship of a careless group of bad guys called the Bad Guys. The two ships lose control and both fall to this strange planet called Earth, into a huge garbage dump. Luckily, Grandpa Blub can repair the ship but some of the parts have been stolen after the crash so we're going to have to collect them taking different members of the family through 4 completely separate stories which have practically nothing to do with the ship parts.

Opinion

I tried to set myself into a positive mood before starting to play this game because I had an initial hunch that it may not be everything I'm hoping for or expecting from an adventure game. I wish I'd been wrong but unfortunately I wasn't.

The graphics are unimaginative and repetitive. There are, of course, a couple of exceptions to this but they're few and far between and generally fail to lift the quality of the game. The video sequences connecting the still backgrounds are simply horrible (even though the backgrounds themselves are often pretty nicely done). The idea is good, we've seen it done in many games, e.g. The Neverhood but I don't think we've seen it executed so poorly before. The quality of the animations is simply awful. I, for one, definitely expected something better from a game that's strecthing out on 3 CDs. With all that said, I still could have forgiven the "minor mishaps" concerning the graphical artwork if at least the story had been any good.

But... you already know what I'm going to say. It wasn't. This has got to be one of the stupidest ideas ever for an adventure game and I don't mean stupid as in funny, but stupid as in ridiculous and dull. I guess the designers wanted to go for a hilarious adventure but most of the humor that's in the game comes from the graphics. Some designs and ideas really are funny in spite of the story lacking any kind of humor or originality and that's the only thing saving this game from a dumpster. One thing the designers consciously tried to do (I think) and may have succeeded in is getting across the message that we are ruining our environment and ruthlessly polluting our planet. Did it make a difference and was this game the right media for such a message? You be the judge.

I'm sure you've noticed I haven't talked about the music yet. Well, I'm not gonna now either because it's simply not worth talking about. Not bad but not good, not exactly noteworthy but it's definitely audible. It doesn't do anything to help the game but it sure is... there.

As for the gameplay, there's not much to say. The game itself is extremely short, or at least it would be, but due to the no end of red herrings in it, you're likely to find yourself spending a day or two more than necessary clawing your way through it. The first 3 chapters are very short and really easy so you'll have them figured out in about an hour or so. The fourth chapter is a little more complicated as we control two characters simultaneously, but it doesn't save this game from being just another point and click adventure where the puzzles and the story are secondary to... something. I wish I could say I've figured out what it is, but all I can tell you is that it sure as hell isn't the graphics or the music.

There you have it. Quickly finished, quickly forgotten.