The game says it uses special graphics technology right before the title screen. It is evident that they use a very specially designed graphics engine for turning out some of the best cel-shaded graphics to date available on the Playstation 2. I say this with great confidence, because I know that my eyes do not deceive me. I did, however, wonder if they were deceiving me when I first put the game in. I could not believe cel-shaded graphics could be done so well.
The game's biggest problems in the graphical department have pretty much already been mentioned. The camera is unsatisfactory at times, causing problems with control, and also when backing against walls or with certain objects in the way, you can become disoriented - the game doesn't look so nice when this happens. Some objects that stand between you and your enemies become translucent (i.e. a streetlight between you and a hover-bot.) and this is a good thing during fast paced levels in terms of action.
What is most important to recognize here is the artists and the graphics experts working together to make this game look pretty much just like what you would expect an interactive Futurama world to look like. It looks just like a cartoon in all the good sense of the word and it looks better than the show in the sense that there is plenty of detail to give you a sense of all kinds of environments, from dirty forgotten Old New York to Mysterious Temples on the Sun. A cartoon with Detail to give it grit and personality when needed.
The character models are great. They look just like their counterparts from the show, except in fully rendered 3D and what more could you really want in this type of game.
If you do not like cel-shaded graphics for some reason, I do not know what to say to you - but this is a game based on a cartoon, and the developers' stylistic choices fit their purpose well.
The music in Futurama the Game is very well done. Everything from Industrial-like techno to futuristic rock or heavy metal can be found here all mixed together in a curious dance beat type of presentation. What the hell did I just say? Well, it's really something you have to hear yourself. And the music does help to make the levels that much more exciting. The music's downfall is its lack of synchronization with the action going on in the game. It does not get louder when things heat up or quieter between confrontations with enemies to build tension. Fortunately, the music does serve the environments well. It does not do so perfectly, but it gets the job done.
The sound effects are top notch. Almost everything is taken straight out of the cartoon in terms of the attitude the sound effects portray. As robots, mutant skeletons, and other creatures attack you, their grunts and slices and metal saws can be heard. You will hear the slime in the sewers, and the molten lava on the Sun. The sounds are likely to make you laugh, but not as hard as the voice-overs.
The voice-overs are the gem of this game's sound. I literally have no idea how many sayings each character has for each kind of situation as you progress through the level, but each and every one of them is humorous and fits that character's personality perfectly. To give you an idea of how many sayings there are, if you die and start over from a certain point and do the same action your character will often say something different from its bank of sayings. The voice acting in the cutscenes is superb and, like I mentioned above, it is almost just like watching the cartoon itself. All the original cast members' voice talents are here and that is a big plus.
There is a surprising amount of hours of gameplay here for this type of game. There are 22 levels in all to be played through, each worth playing through enough times to beat them. Some levels will take you up to 45 minutes or more to complete your first try while others last as little as 15 or less. One level, which has you running as Bender away from a giant boulder through a cave a la Indiana Jones is only about 4 minutes long and probably better for it, as it is one of the hardest challenges in the game. On average it shouldn't take you much more than 3 tries at the most to beat each level. The tiring task of collecting valuables (they might as well be coins) does serve a purpose and that is that every 25 you collect you receive an extra life. The more lives you have, the less chance you have of using them all up and having to start the level over. The difficulty level of this game is not hard in a challenging sort of way, but rather in an annoying sort of way, mostly because of jumping from platforms like I explained earlier. In other ways, it could be said that the game is almost too easy in places, and this is frustrating because it sends a mixed message. To me, this game is not merely to be passed off as a cartoonish game for kids, but as a very witty game based on a series with a strong cult following. The humor in this game is mostly adult. Should the game then not be more challenging in the right ways for the audience it is directed towards?
It is worth playing through to the end to see not only how the story turns out, but also how each character's role in the game is different and the dimension each of them brings to it. Each character's sayings will make you laugh over and over again. I feel it is all worth playing all the way through and not give up until you get there. The most important thing, I think, is that I did not want to give up because I enjoyed the gaming experience that much.
The replay value does take a bit of a dive when it comes to playing through the entire game again. There is a reason put in by the developers to go back and collect all the Nibblers, which will unlock all the extras for each level. These include artwork, joke commercials, cutscenes, and music from those levels. I personally did not feel it was worth the extra effort. I hear there is a cheat code for unlocking all the extras, but that is a rumor, and you didn't hear it from me.
One reason to play through it again, though, would be to show this extremely hilarious experience to your friends when they come over and ask you "Futurama? What's that like?". You will then at that point probably have a huge grin on your face.
