Plot: What’s it about?
When the other bears threw a party, Naughty Bear wasn’t invited. This is the premise for 505 Game’s Naughty Bear and of course, the party is crashed in brutal fashion. Naughty Bear faces a series of parties that he wasn’t invited to, so he must punish those responsible and be as naughty as possible. This includes scaring the others, setting up traps, sabotaging equipment, and yes, out and out murder. You can beat them down with baseball bats, stab them with machetes, use a gun to blow their brains out, and in the coolest option, drive them insane. Once you have unnerved a bear into insanity, he will snap and well, I will let you discover what happens for yourself. Each stage has required actions, but there is ample leeway on how to achieve those goals and there’s always room for improvisation. All the while, the bears witness what happens and as more chaos unfolds, the tension mounts and the stakes are raised. A bear might phone for the police, repair a sabotaged item, or out and out escape. But regardless, it will be a dark day on Perfection Island. A note to the other bears: next time invite this dude.
This game promises a cuter sociopathic experience, as evidenced by the clever and effective marketing campaign. The game is quite fun and delivers on that promise, with wild results. As cool as it is to uncover the numerous ways to dispatch your enemies, the replay value would be limited in the standard narrative mode. That’s why 505 has included several bonus objective modes for each stage, from time attack to untouchable variations. As you progress and score more naughty points, you also unlock some cool stuff, such as improved stats and new skins for your bear. You can approach each mode in so many ways, you’ll spend a lot of time just experimenting to see what happens. In addition to all that, you can score achievements for “ironic kills” and special goals,, as well as work on climbing global leaderboards, so there is a lot to do in Naughty Bear. The one complaint I have is that the camera is a little unwieldy at times, which can cause some issues, but it usually doesn’t get in the way. Naughty Bear is a solid game and for those who appreciate the unique violence, there is a generous amount of content.
Video: How does it look?
The visuals of Naughty Bear are adequate. I wasn’t dazzled, but the graphics look good and the visual design is effective, its like being inside a cartoon. The animations are detailed, which is crucial since most of the fun comes from the outlandish kills and scares. In other words, you will see the stuffing as its torn out, pours out, or is blown out. The cutscenes reflect the gameplay and are fun to watch as well. I can’t imagine this is the kind of game one would choose for cutting edge visuals, so the bright, colorful world of Naughty Bear is just fine.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio design is just what you’d expect, light and fun, with a slight dark twist. The British accented narrator is a great choice and adds to the fun. The music is poppy and straight of out a children’s show, which clashes just right with the insane violence within the stages. The in-game sound effects work well, from the gunshots to the squeals to the snap of the traps, all quite well done and in the perfect spirit of the game. Not much else to talk about, the audio here is rather simple, but it does the job and then some.
Supplements: What are the extras?
N/A
