2K - Family Guy The Video Game Review

When I got Family Guy the Video Game, I didn't know what to expect.  It could have been HILARIOUS, or it could have been super dumb.  It actually turned out to be pretty fun with only a few downsides.

There is a plot to the game, but it's not really important and it becomes kind of random.  Basically what happens is you encounter various scenes in which you must get to the end by facing various challenges.  The game is played scene by scene instead of ungoing... like you have to get to that door and then you move to the next scene. You'll play as Stewie, Brian and Peter at different parts of the game as there are actually 3 storylines going on (just like there would be on TV).  Each story is pretty much like a TV show story, except drawn out. 

• Stewie is trying to control the world through mind control and the TV
• Brian is trying to break out of jail after getting Sebreeze pregnant
• Peter is off looking for Mr. Belvedere and has to beat a lot of characters up!

Although they have storylines, there is no ultimate goal explained at the start of the game.  Instead, you just go with the flow and find out the plot as you play.  Just like the show, they have non-sequiturs, or mini scenes.  Anyone who watches Family Guy knows about the they do during the show starting with "it's like that time that this happened...."and then showing a flashback to when that happened.  In the video game, you get to play the non-sequiturs whenever you find them.  It's like a mini challenge within the whole scheme of things.  I'm not a huge fan of these because I ended up not knowing what to do a few times, failing, and then the non-sequitur was over and I had no chance to start over.  I thought they should give you some warning so you know it's coming at least!  I guess that just adds to the challenge though.

The same way I didn't know what to do with some of those non-sequiturs, I also sometimes don't know what to do in general gameplay.  I was stuck on certain levels just checking every inch of the scene trying to figure out what to do next.  After awhile I started to learn how the game is played more and started to figure out each scene easier, but since the scenes are so very random you gotta really think hard to figure out what to do next.  I guess the hard part is that I rarely knew the ultimate goal of each scene or even the whole game so that's why I got lost sometimes.

The graphics stink, but I guess they are kind of funny.  You can still tell who the characters are, but it's weird that it doesn't look as 3D as the TV show.  Maybe they did this on purpose to be funny.  You'll recognize a lot of the scenes from the TV show, such as inside the house, that look like what you always see on TV.  The sounds are what make me laugh!  This game is even ruder than the TV show because it's rated M for Mature so they can get away with more.  Characters say some crazy things throughout the game.  Let's just say, if you are even the least bit offended by the TV show, you should not get this game!  And Please don't let your kids play!  The challenges themselves can be funny because the things they expect you to do come out of nowhere.  Many of the tasks are crude and sometimes even I say EWWW about the ideas they wrote into this game, but even so I still giggle.

Fans of the Family Guy TV show should enjoy this game, after all I love the show and I'm feeling this game too!  I was surprised at how challenging it actually turned out to be.  Sometimes the confusion of "what to do next" makes me less into it, but then I just take a few days off and suddenly I'm into it again.  It's the best of both worlds - a funny TV show and a challenging video game.  If you can get around some of the cruder parts, you'll love it.  Enjoy!!