Open Season (PS2)

.co.uk Review

In a nutshell:
Just like the movie, Boog the bear and Elliot the deer are just trying to get home, but there’s an endless wilderness and an army of hunters in their way.

The lowdown:
There’s not a movie worth its salt, particularly not a CGI kid’s movie that would dare walk the merchandising catwalk without a video game adaptation. The problem is most of them aren’t very good and despite some fun moments Open Season doesn’t really do much to stand out from the crowd. What’s annoying is that Boog actually has a number of interesting abilities, like throwing skunks as stun grenades and squirrels as nut firing turrets, but by the time you’ve them all it’s almost the end of the game. This means for most of the time you’re just carrying out dull fetch quests, which is fine for fans of the movie but won’t be for everyone else.

Most exciting moment:
The most enjoyable sections of the game all revolve around impromptu chase sequences, with mine cart races, aintop escapes and a white water rapids ride down a river on the remains of an outside toilet.

Since you ask:
Another highlight of the game is a number of fun unlockable mini-games, including such unlikely tasks as competitive flower picking and log rolling, which you can also play in four-player mode with friends.

The bottom line:
One for fans of the movie only.- HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description

Team up with a cast of crazy critters, unleashing your animal instincts in Open Season, the game a riotous romp in the great outdoors in which a rowdy brood of forest animals turns the tables on a bunch of unsuspecting hunters.

When a domesticated grizzly named Boog gets lured into leaving the creature comforts of home by a fast-talking mule deer named Elliott, he finds himself lost in the woods just three days before hunting season begins. Forced to "rough it" in the great outdoors, Boog goes native, rallying all the forest animals to take back their home and send the hunters packing.

Take a walk on the wild side in this outrageous adventure based on Open Season the movie.

• Play as Boog and Elliott and relive the movie adventure.
• Interact with Beth, Shaw, and all your animal favourites from the Open Season film.
• Features the same cast of voice actors as the movie, including Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence and Billy Connelly.
• Throw skunk bombs, hurl rabbits, use acorn-firing squirrels, and pull outrageous woodland pranks to e the pants off the hunters.
• Roll in a giant snowball, ride the rapids on a floating outhouse, zip through tunnels in a crazy mine cart ride, and take on more madcap adventures as Boog discovers how to go from Mild to Wild.
• Challenge your friends or team up together in hilarious 4-player mini-games.