Bandai Namco, holder of the Paw Patrol license, regularly offers digital adventures to seduce fans of Ryder and his gang. With this episode, the series goes in 3D and has the luxury of highlighting the Super Patrol, a kind of superhero version of the opening series. Parents, to your notebooks! And if you have Game Pass on your console or PC, you know that the title has just arrived in the catalog of downloadable games!
Designed by the Outright Games studio, this episode stays true to the universe of the series. So we follow the adventures of a gang of dogs that fulfills various civic missions. As the conductor and the only person in the group, Ryder plans the assignments of his loyal companions: Chase the policeman, Marcus the fireman, Ruben the demolition worker, Rocky the handyman, etc. Each dog has its own faculty and has to coordinate with its acolytes about the problems to solve the residents of the Grande Vallée. If you are a parent, it is absolutely impossible that you escaped this phenomenon and this motto: ” No mission is too difficult because my friends, they assure you! ». The game also doesn’t pray to recreate the atmosphere of the cartoon. The Paw Patrol is on a mission!
TO YOUR TOOLS
The franchise’s interest lies in the characters and vehicles the dogs have. As a public order guardian, Chase drives a police car. His other colleagues find themselves aboard helicopters, trucks, hovercrafts, and even snow plows. The alluring universe is obviously at the heart of this video game adaptation. The little ones will surely marvel at the colorful sets and the very neat modeling of their favorite heroes. The atmosphere, be it the music or the official voice of Ryder, is neat and our dear favorites will only need a few minutes to find everything that makes the TV series so charming. In terms of setting, we can’t fault this episode very much, as the graphics are the core of the television program.
BEWARE OF DOGS
This Paw Patrol adventure offers a choice between platforms and exploration in levels with an open appearance (there are invisible walls everywhere to keep the little ones from getting lost). Specifically, the player spends his time collecting goodies (individually or in a bag) to unlock bonuses. To give toddlers the appearance of a challenge, the developers have also hidden a few badges here and there. But for the rest, don’t plan on flushing out enemies, the game will remain peaceful like its original base. Given these conditions, it took a few new sequences to vary the pleasures. This is where the skills and superpowers of our dear animals come into play. The first level acts as a tutorial and leads to a meteorite that turns the team of dogs into superheroes! In the beginning it’s all about smashing a stone blocking the passage, recycling trash, lifting an object, watering flowers to find a hidden hen (yes, yes) or using Chase’s super sense of smell. . Then, at the end of the level, the obstacles get bigger and it’s then a matter of repairing a ski lift (after finding the necessary materials, it changes the goodies a little) or melting blocks of ice blocking the passage. The formula is tempting for children, especially since it is impossible to fall into a ravine and suffer great tremors (we may rub a little too much with fish in the water mini-game). Despite everything, the game mechanics are very soft.
SUPERPOWERS AT A DISCOUNT
In order for the game to be interesting in the long run, the superpowers would have to be implanted in the heart of the adventure without being the subject of dedicated sequences. The exploration / platform phases are honest for the target (it moves well and responds correctly) but superpower use is very average and is mostly reduced to QTE (buttons appear on the screen and it is necessary to reproduce what is shown). Not only does it have no interest, but it also has the gift of completely hacking the rhythm of the game. Fortunately, there are intermediate phases (before the levels) in which the heroes drive vehicles and that has at least the advantage of adding a bit of variety. For the purpose of testing, your servant visited his children and it really kept coming back: ” But why can’t we use super powers to pick up the goodies? It doesn’t take long to find the answer. The title boils down to the collection of candy in the shape of bones and consists of only seven levels (including a tutorial) to which mini-games are added. This would have made the already rapid service life even shorter. In this way it extends the pleasure a bit, but at the expense of the rhythm. And it’s not the 7 mini-games (pop-pop boogie dance, fruit picking, diving, snow plow …) that will change everything after completing the seven levels – even if they are nice and the kids will come back to him, to pass the different phases. The Super Patrol saves the Great Valley is a pleasant game (provided you don’t exceed ten years) and has the good idea of being playable in cooperation. This is worth mentioning, as there is absolutely nothing in the core of the game to suggest this possibility; just plug in a second controller and the second player invitation appears. In solo, a simple push of a button is enough to switch between dogs (from two to four per level). Overall, the title serves its purpose for the targeted audience, but one shouldn’t expect too much and hope that superpowers won’t be the subject of frozen sequences in the future.
Conclusion
Points fortresses
- Series-based graphics
- Ryder’s official voice
- We can all play dogs
- Some mini-games to add to the experience
- Vehicle phases
Weak points
- The frozen use of superpowers
- 7 levels – including a tutorial, that’s not enough!
- Some sound bugs (voice stopping)
- Interest-free bonuses (badges)
Paw Patrol: La Super Patrouille saves La Grande Vallée has recently been available in Game Pass (Xbox and PC) and is committed to faithfully reproducing the cartoon series. Ryder’s graphics and voice will certainly appeal to toddlers, but the gameplay is still very light. Accessible and offering a mixture of exploration, platform or vehicle sequences, there is just a little lack of ambition in using superpowers to conquer all children. But if your kid is a fan of the original artwork, they’ll skip it and have fun.
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Through Ayden_, Journalist igamesnews.com
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