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| Guilty Party: it's a mystery! |
By Rich Shivener
The Commodore. Olivia. Max. Ling-Ling. Charlotte. Butch. Kid Riddle. Phoebe.
They are cheeseball characters - yet that's why they're adorable and seemingly perfect for elementary kids looking to sleuth around mansions, trains, opera houses and the like. They are the essence of Guilty Party, which reveals your inner gumshoe via lighthearted interrogations and accusations. The main mystery: Who the hell kidnapped Olivia? But first, who ate the Commodore's yellow pudding?
Enter the Dickens Detective Agency, a cartoony bunch. They want to put down Mr. Valentine, the elusive baddie who plants traps around each level, locking doors and such as the detectives search for clues. "Savvy cards" - skeleton keys, megaphones, whistles, etc. - allow them to bypass his obstacles and catch suspects. They load up detective notebooks and sketchpads, matching clues with the suspects' height, weight, gender and hair.
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"I'll take the foxy redhead," my friend says as we choose characters, taking an interest in the bespectacled, self-assured Phoebe, mother of Kid Riddle, the aspiring superhero.
Me? "I'll go for the hard-boiled guy." Turns out Max isn't that type at all. He devours mysteries, belching dopey quips like "a burger of pure joy" and "I'm ready, willing and hungry for justice." Over and over. But maybe kiddies are okay with that. Kids really don't care that Butch sounds like a five-year-old, or that Charlotte is a innocuous, elderly aunt with a Kung-Fu grip. These are cartoons, after all.
Still, I love the bevy of mini-games I'm required to complete for evidence, which you need to make a case against the prime suspect. In fact, my friend and I laugh at the kitschiness at play here. At one point in the train level, I'm required to tickle Judge Judith Prudence into submission for a clue. I wave the Wii remote where the game tells me to, and she begins giggling, with a giant grin drawing across her face. And then I fail. "I guess I expected more!" she cries. My friend explodes with laughter.
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The Judge is just one of many stock characters we encounter in the Story Mode. We bribe Butler Thaddeus Bilge and French maid Fifi Fromage; we scare the crap out of Schmoot the Gardner and flex our muscles in front of Chef Madeline Ash; we help Columnist Vendetta Clamp remember her dinner, and at one point we try to plant the blame on beatnik Poet Ian Neon, but to no avail. Later, we team up on broken fuses, rigged locks and flying snakes.
Guilty Party really isn't suited for a singleplayer adventure, we say. Grab a buddy or three - or your family - and rush through Story Mode, thus adding more mini-games and culprits to Party Mode, which puts new twists on completed Story levels. We like the head-to-head gameplay, in which you try to outwit your fellow detectives. Game Room is unlockable, too, and it just might be the best of the modes because it ditches the elementary plot and gets right to the fun. That is, you're welcome to tickle someone again and again and again ....
The Official Verdict: 3 Out of 5
This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.
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