Scribblenauts is a videogame tragedy worthy of a theater run. 5th Cell's action-puzzle game wants to be loved, and deep down, it's a bright creation with a lot of potential. But Scribblenauts is also deeply troubled, temperamental, and difficult to endure for a long stretch of time.
Write Anything, Make Problems
Scribblenauts's tagline states, “Write Anything. Solve Everything.” Problem is, those two statements often don't fit together. It's true that you can write (or type) nearly any noun you can think of into young Maxwell's magic notebook, and that item will spring to life on-screen. Want a zombie? Check. A motorcycle? Of course. An aardvark? Why not?
Adjectives even apply to a certain extent. If you ask for a “dragon,” you'll get a winged reptile that will immediately try to slice you up. If you ask for a “Chinese dragon,” you'll get a benevolent serpentine friend. 5th Cell boasts that the contents of an entire dictionary have been translated into sprite form for Scribblenauts, or approximately 20,000 nouns. I haven't tested each one, but I can take 5th Cell on its word.
The real problem with Scribblenauts happens when you try to “Solve Everything.” The point of Scribblenauts is to help Maxwell find “Starites.” Starites are hidden in each level (and there are dozens); you must conjure up items to help you nab the wayward Starite, which might be floating over a pit of lava or guarded by a hungry dinosaur.
Completely outlandish solutions don't often work, which is disappointing for a game that boasts its only limit as your imagination. But what's truly unacceptable is the high failure rate for logical puzzle solutions. The items you summon occasionally interact with one another—sometimes in supremely clever and cute ways (when I had a terrified unicorn on my hands, I called up a maiden who tamed it)—but more often, they'll have nothing to do with one another.
Adjectives even apply to a certain extent. If you ask for a “dragon,” you'll get a winged reptile that will immediately try to slice you up. If you ask for a “Chinese dragon,” you'll get a benevolent serpentine friend. 5th Cell boasts that the contents of an entire dictionary have been translated into sprite form for Scribblenauts, or approximately 20,000 nouns. I haven't tested each one, but I can take 5th Cell on its word.
The real problem with Scribblenauts happens when you try to “Solve Everything.” The point of Scribblenauts is to help Maxwell find “Starites.” Starites are hidden in each level (and there are dozens); you must conjure up items to help you nab the wayward Starite, which might be floating over a pit of lava or guarded by a hungry dinosaur.
Completely outlandish solutions don't often work, which is disappointing for a game that boasts its only limit as your imagination. But what's truly unacceptable is the high failure rate for logical puzzle solutions. The items you summon occasionally interact with one another—sometimes in supremely clever and cute ways (when I had a terrified unicorn on my hands, I called up a maiden who tamed it)—but more often, they'll have nothing to do with one another.
Cart Before the Horse
In one puzzle, I had to get a chariot up a hill. I thought, “I'll call up a horse.” Behold, a horse. Then I asked for a harness with which I could hitch the horse to the chariot. I was granted a harness...but it wouldn't go on the horse, or the chariot.
Another puzzle required me to dig through a wall of dirt. I asked for a badger and a mole. I received both, but they stood around looking bewildered instead of doing what is supposed to come naturally to burrowing animals.
Sadly, Scribblenauts is full of similar puzzles that take the fun out of guessing. Even though the game rewards you for thinking of original solutions, you'll find yourself resorting to old standby objects because at least you're assured they'll work.
Another puzzle required me to dig through a wall of dirt. I asked for a badger and a mole. I received both, but they stood around looking bewildered instead of doing what is supposed to come naturally to burrowing animals.
Sadly, Scribblenauts is full of similar puzzles that take the fun out of guessing. Even though the game rewards you for thinking of original solutions, you'll find yourself resorting to old standby objects because at least you're assured they'll work.
No Control Over the Situation
The controls in Scribblenauts are entirely stylus-driven, and they're also sloppy. You move Maxwell (and any objects he might be riding in or on) by tapping a location on the touch screen. However, neither Maxwell nor the in-game objects have any sense of weight. The slightest touch will send Maxwell barreling towards his destination like a hotrod. If he touches a car or a truck, it'll flip over like it's made of cotton candy. This leads to some disastrous accidents during attempted Starite retrieval. On the opposite end of the “Huh?” spectrum, just randomly moving Maxwell here and there sometimes netted me a Starite for reasons that still aren't clear to me.
Scribblenauts's graphics are very cute, but strangely lifeless. Summoned items and beings, all drawn in the style of hinged wooden puppets, tend to just stand around blankly. Once in a while, something fun will happen: try summoning God to take on Cthulu, or write “Virgin” and get a gamer. None of this has much practical application in-game, unfortunately.
Scribblenauts's soundtrack is also catchy and cute, though you might get tired of listening to it as you search for solutions to a sticky puzzle (and search, and search, and search...).
Scribblenauts's graphics are very cute, but strangely lifeless. Summoned items and beings, all drawn in the style of hinged wooden puppets, tend to just stand around blankly. Once in a while, something fun will happen: try summoning God to take on Cthulu, or write “Virgin” and get a gamer. None of this has much practical application in-game, unfortunately.
Scribblenauts's soundtrack is also catchy and cute, though you might get tired of listening to it as you search for solutions to a sticky puzzle (and search, and search, and search...).
Hope for the Future of Scribbles
It's sad, so sad, to have to rate Scribblenauts as anything less than a 5-star title. Alas, the game just has too many parts that don't fit together, and too many instances where there is only frustration and no fun.
However, Scribblenauts is also the start of something very important. If 5th Cell expands on its concept and performs some fine-tuning, the next Scribblenauts game (and I sincerely hope there is another) may well be worth drawing up a pizza party for.
However, Scribblenauts is also the start of something very important. If 5th Cell expands on its concept and performs some fine-tuning, the next Scribblenauts game (and I sincerely hope there is another) may well be worth drawing up a pizza party for.
