Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Futurama

Written by John Scalzo on July 01, 2003

First Impressions: "Good news everyone!" They're making a Futurama game.

Paul Simon once famously observed, "Where have you gone, Dr. Zoidberg?" Okay, not really, but unfortunately I know exactly why the adventures of Fry, Leela, and Bender have disappeared from your television set. In a move that goes against all common sense, Fox officially cancelled Futurama this past month and has decided to burn off the last remaining episodes over the summer. You'd think that they'd treat a show that earned such remarkable ratings and large sums of critical praise better, but at least Fox Interactive knows a good thing when they see one when they decided to commission Futurama: The Game.

In Futurama, you'll take on the role of the Planet Express crew with a very important mission. The evil Mom (think, a female version of Mr. Burns) is trying to enslave the Earth and transform it into a giant Death Star that she can use for universal domination. Naturally, a crew that consists of a one eyed mutant, a guy from the 20th century, and a hard drinkin' robot are our only hope. But with the world in peril this means that Zapp Brannigan can't be too far behind, right?

The game is a third person adventure that will place you into the pants of all three main characters over the course of the game. Each character will also have their own unique abilities and levels to strut their stuff in. Leela takes her female Rambo persona to new heights as her levels allow her to use her kung fu like only she knows how to do it (and I swear that sentence sounded a lot better in my head than it looks on screen). Fry, being a "dumb kid from the stupid ages" needs a little edge in his levels, so he loads up with ray guns, laser cannons, those glowing baton sticks (you can't call them "Light sabers") the policebots use, and all of the other fun, futuristic weaponry. And any fan of the show knows exactly what Bender is up to. With a little alcohol he'll belch fire. He can also bend things, and I'm sure stealing stuff will be an important part of Bender's misadventures.

Fox Interactive also seems to be taking this television licensing stuff pretty seriously. They managed to successfully merge all of the pieces of Buffy the Vampire Slayer into a fantastic Xbox game and are using the same basic formula for Futurama. Matt Groening is on board as an Executive Developer of the game, and is overseeing a good portion of it. All of the voice actors from the television series will be reprising their roles for the game. And unlike the live action Buffy show, three or four different people voice most of Futurama's characters -- so you can expect a lot of minor characters to appear. The Futurama writing team, which in my opinion is the major driving force of why Futurama is so good, will also be outlining the story. And a huge amount of cinematics (reportedly twenty-five to thirty minutes worth) will be included to propel that same story along.

The game is being set to capture the look and feel of the show with its cel-shaded visuals. Sure it's a fad that's being picked up by a lot of games that don't really need it. Remember the early cel-shaded screens from House of the Dead 3: a non-cartoon release? Futurama is instead a licensed television product that lends itself to the cel-shaded graphics. And they look spectacular! All sorts of attention to detail are being added. And because a lot of the cartoon is already completed in 3D, it's a natural progression. Matt Groening and the rest of the Futurama team have commented that there will be plenty of little surprises in Futurama that fans of the show will definitely go nuts over. To round the television presentation package up, all of the show's music will make the move over to the video game as well.