Dogz - Cute yet Unchallenging Gaming for Under 10's - 6/10

Story:
The setting is Pawville a town on an island which is happy and peaceful. Your dog's parents run the show and keep everything nice by way of a Magic Hat. Sadly your character is just a pup (with the IQ of a box of rocks) his mate (also with an IQ lower than a bag of hammers) gets you into the crap then takes off leaving you to deal with things.

Because of this stupidity the Magic Hat falls into the wrong paws and chaos ensues.

Graphics:
This game is bright and colourful with a nicely detailed landscape which your dog interacts with in subtle and surprising ways. For instance there is a Day/Night cycle in this game, you see the sun move across the sky, set, then the moon rise etc. The cycles are obviously accelerated but it adds a bit of interest to the scenery. If your dog goes through long grass the grass moves and surrounds your dog (this can come in useful).

The appearance of the dogs was disappointing. I found the "breeds" didn't differ much from dog to dog and they all ended up looking like the same dog with different markings.

The cutscenes were also of similar quality to the in-game graphics which helped it flow a lot more evenly through the story.

Sound:
There is no dialogue, it is all printed on the screen with the occasional "Woof" from your dog. Additional noises from other animals when you get near them are a welcome distraction from the constant music playing. The music is OK, but I found it really didn't add too much to the game.

Controls:
Control of this game is all done with the Wiimote only, no Nunchuk needed!

To move your dog you press B whilst moving the Paw shaped cursor to where you want the dog to go.

To find objects your dog can sniff for them, some tasks you need to use the sniffing radar. To sniff for things press and hold A and an indicator will come up showing you the direction of the item.

Your dog can go fishing at certain points, follow the on screen prompts to catch fish.

Your dog can dig up objects it finds by shaking the Wiimote down twice.

Your dog learns new skills throughout the game which use a combination of those buttons to complete.



Weapons:
Your pup isn't completely defenceless and besides running away it can use a couple of skills to defend itself.

Bark: By pressing the - button your pup will bark, if you press and hold the - button your dog will growl then howl. This can be used to stun enemies

Throw stones: Your pup eventually gets taught how to throw stones and on screen prompts show you how to pick up and throw stones at enemies, this stuns them.

Enemies/Bosses:
The main enemy is a wolf named Ivlet who gets his paws on the Magic Hat and causes problems including enchanting a lot of the animals who live on the island.

The enchanted animals attack your pup when it goes too close to them.

Animals who escaped from the zoo don't attack you but present mini-games for you to compete against them in.

The boss battle is at the end of the game against a Dragon under Ivlet's control and Ivlet himself. I found it fiddly but not too difficult to finish.

Power-ups:
Your pup receives skills and health hearts added to it's total through out the game via completing tasks for other dogs on the island.

You also receive the ability to "warp" later in the game which saves some time going from location to location around the island.

Health:
Your dog can find health potions and other items of value by sniffing them out and digging them up. Your dog can also recover health by going back to its house and having a sleep in its bed.

You can buy health potions at the Pharmacy.

Secrets:
Almost everything you find is a secret as you have to sniff it out and dig it up. Some of the dogs will set you a challenge to find X amount of items to receive a bonus item. This is the only thing that would encourage replay as the basic game/storyline is easily finished in about 6-8 hours of gameplay.

Niggles:
I realise this game is aimed at children, but there is no room for critically thinking about a puzzle. The game beats not only the next objective into you 2 or 3 times, it's also recorded in the "Diary", and an annoying little character I call "Mr Hat" pops up to tell you AGAIN about it.

You can't skip cutscenes, yes they are very nice the 1st time through, but not the 10th (I would imagine, I haven't played it 10 times).

Conclusion:
This game is short, however there is limited replayability in finding all the items.

Girls will possibly like the option of buying clothes from the shop and not only can you dress your dog in outfits, you can also inflict this indignity on the other dogs in the village.

The game is rated G however I would imagine it has limited appeal to anyone aged over 10.

Graphics - 7/10
Story - 6/10
Gameplay - 6/10
Sound - 6/10

Submitted by Stormstruk 22/01/2008 156 10

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More Info:

Petz Dogz 2

Other Reviews:

• Stormstruk Review 6/10 by Stormstruk

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