THE HUB

OMG!!!

FEATURED GAME

FEATURED MEMBER

elementxstyle

elementxstyle

GP Design shop.

QUICK POLL

What's the next big game coming this year?

ASK THE PROS

THE GAMEPROS

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Sign up now to receive weekly or daily updates on your favorite games, stories, and more!



PC | Simulation | The Movies: Stunts & Effects

Boxart for The Movies: Stunts & Effects
The Movies: Stunts & Effects 49 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.00
  • SOUND: 3.50
  • CONTROL: 4.00
  • FUN FACTOR 3.50
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.8

Review: The Movies: Stunts & Effects

Review by Boba Fatt | 07/05/2006 | 13:54:41 PM PST

The Movies will make you believe a virtual stuntman can fly with its new Stunts and Effects Expansion pack, but frustrated fans of this almost-classic won't find a cure to their main gripe: the high-maintenance gameplay.

A schizophrenic beast of wasted potential, The Movies fell short of its fantastic promise by miring an awesome idea in needless micromanagement, causing many players to tear their hair out, and others to focus on the movie-making tools instead of the actual game. But truth be told, there is fun and addicting gameplay to be had in this package if you're willing to work hard enough.

The good news is that the title's first expansion, The Movies: Stunts and Effects Expansion Pack, adds more of the great stuff. The bad news is that it doesn't fix any of the bad stuff.

THIS GAME IS LIKE A MARRIAGE
Stunts and Effects adds, well, stunts and effects to your virtual movie studio, where you manage the budget, screenwriting, set construction and lot design of your movie studio, not to mention your actors' and directors' neuroses and careers (this is where you spend the bulk of your time). The introduction of stunt elements to your films won't even show up until the 1960's (the game begins in the early 1900's, right at the dawn of Hollywood), at which point you'll hire stuntmen along with your other employees. Like your actors, stuntmen require training before they can pull off the harder jobs. Stunts and Effects adds new buildings, including stunt casting facilities, stunt training sets and hospitals to handle the stuntmen who fail their perilous sieges. Thankfully, your stuntmen are less fickle than your actors, but their success can have a huge impact on the success of your films, and, inexplicably, highly-trained stuntmen often fail routine stunts. Why? Plus --pair up stuntmen and actors who don't look alike, and your audiences will complain. Herein lies the core problem with The Movies: the maintenance-heavy gameplay starts to feel more like work than pleasure.

LOOK! GODZILLA!

On the brighter side, Stunts and Effects adds a bevy of tools to the already-impressive movie maker package, including costumes, camera controls, green- and bluescreen effects, scenes and sets. The coolest new addition is a miniature city that allows you to create Godzilla-style giant monsters.

Unfortunately, the introduction of stuntmen adds even more micromanagement to the already-laborious game. If only this expansion had added functionality to make a few of the processes automatic, or eased up on the basic game's frustrations (every Movies fan has groaned at the lack of available labor for hire), it could've made for something every movie fan loves: a happy ending. Instead, we're left with the all-too familiar sensation of having to wait for a sequel.


Related Articles