Review
Release Date: 11.12.2002
Platform:
PlayStation 2Developer:
Midway Home EntertainmentPublisher:
Midway Home EntertainmentReviewed by
Wade Monnig on 4.28.2003
Originality in the platformer/action category isn’t something that comes along every day. However, the last few months have seen a break from the normal mascot driven sequel rage with some original (in both form and execution) entries into the genre.
Dr. Muto uses the basic treasure hunt philosophy of most platformer games with some significant twists. You won’t find a cute, fuzzy mascot-ready main character here. Instead you are in control of Dr. Muto, a mad scientist that even the gang at
www.thinkgeek.com would have a hard time snuggling up to. The good/mad doctor is called into action when he is sub-contracted to end an energy crisis and does so by blowing up the planet he was supposed to provide energy for. (Well, I guess that is one way to do it). Another twist is that It carries a Teen rating, mostly due to Al (Don’t call me Hal), your sarcastic and witty computer assistant who gives you a good idea of what Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey would have sounded like if it had been directed by the Monty Python troupe instead of Stanley Kubrick.
You begin the game in control of Dr. Muto in his human styled body but he quickly lives up to his Mad Scientist PHD by gathering DNA and morphing into various animals. At first,the control feels a little clunky and Dr. Muto can only move as fast as his stubby little legs will carry him…which isn’t very fast. But as you experiment with the various different morphs, you realize there is a reason you never see mad scientists in the Olympics, they just aren’t that athletic. If you need agility, mutate into a monkey. If you need the advantage of a diminutive size, transform into a mouse. This doesn’t alleviate all of the clunkiness of the controls, but much of it can be attributed to this reasoning. One control issue that you can’t attribute to this is the problems with directing Dr. Muto’s weapons. He has a stunning/DNA stripping lightning type weapon that blasts with a shotgun-esque spread. However, the Red blasting ray the Doctor uses a more direct beam and harder to aim, thus causing more than a few instances of undeserved hits from enemies.
While the 3-D action/platformer genre is entering it’s 5th or 6th generation, one problem still persists with the majority of these titles and Dr. Muto is no exception. Controlling the camera and getting it into a good position is a constant struggle. Once again, hits that could normally be easily avoided will bulls-eye the doctor simply because you never see them coming.
On the plus side, Dr. Muto also does a good job of keeping up with platform innovations found in other releases. For instance, when you respawn at a recent save point after taking a tumble, you still have all your hard-earned items in tow, so there is no need for backtracking and snagging the same items over and over. Dr. Muto is also a large game, with even the first world will take you hours to beat. Due to the setup, you'll need to come back with devices you construct later in the game in order to complete 100% of each mission. Speaking of devices, you construct these by gathering different items throughout each level. You collect all these power ups to…well, do all sorts of things. Lots and lots of things…So much so that I found I was just grabbing every item I could find and waiting for a message to pop up to tell I had earned a brand new whatchamacallit. All the items and mutations you earn help to solve the puzzle-ish areas in the game. I only call them puzzle-ish because after you figure out (or, more aptly after the game tells you) how to solve a puzzle, they really aren’t more challenging than a regular switch.
The ever-present camera problems and redundant item gathering prevent Dr. Muto from truly excelling. However, the sharp dialogue, excellent voice acting and constantly evolving gameplay help it stand out in the genre.
