Open Season is a title that continues pushing forward with the notion that licensed titles are generally unplayable. It’s the worst kind of licensed dreck, riddled with blatantly annoying fetch quests, dull goals, and a difficulty level that only an infant would find challenging. With about a five hour quest, it’s almost as if the developers were making the pain push through quickly.

The movie Open Season follows a pet bear tossed into the wild without a clue as to how to survive. It was funny. The game Open Season has a pet bear tossed into the wild to throw around animals and search for various objects. That’s not funny. Over half the game is a training segment, introducing the player to new powers that feel exactly like the old ones.

The game is extremely linear, taking place mostly in closed forests that allow for little freedom. It might as well be a 2-D platformer. Mission goals are nearly always highlighted by a small set of moving stars. Getting there never requires much in the way of skill.

A bland, drab graphics engine has a single highlight, which is the main character model. These character animations carry with them some amusement, most of which can only be viewed by moving the camera into an unplayable position. On the Wii, the camera is controlled by the D-pad, and while somewhat more controllable than attempting to point with the Remote, it’s out of reach and slow to react.

Typical slapped on Wii controls include flicking the controller down to pick up an object as opposed to pressing a button which would work every time. The only benefit is first person aiming when tossing an animal or object. The accuracy is great, though unfortunately unneeded in a game as forgiving as this.

Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

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