Mmm… Cheese and achievements make a good XBLA game
The PC review for Fright of the Bumblebees is here
Back in March, the PC version of Fright of the Bumblebees came out, as you’ll see from the above review I quite enjoyed it and I have been anticipating the XBLA version for two things. To see if they can replicate the game onto XBLA without fault and for achievements. Besides a few issues with framerate and loading, it’s a solid port and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Fright of the Bumblebees is a pretty easy 200 gamerpoints, I got all mine in an hour or two…but mainly because I knew what to do in the episode and since I’ve replayed it about twice on the PC, I knew how to breeze through it.
Controls are the same as if you plugged in a wired 360 controller for the PC version and while I did come across a few problems selecting items thanks to the framerate dipping now and then, it stands up pretty well. There is the odd loading screen as you enter certain areas, but it only lasts for about a second or two. If you want to know what the achievements are…here’s the list:
Act 1: Breakfast Wrangler
Thwarted Nutter and fixed a contraption in order to make a delicious breakfast. 20g
Memory Lane
Discovered the rocket ship hatch from Wallace and Gromit’s first adventure, “A Grand Day Out”. 15g
Mmm… Cheese
Found and ate a piece of Wensleydale. Mmm… cheese. 15g
Snail Whisperer
Everyone in town has become aquainted with the snail. 15g
Bee Pleaser
Fed each flower type to the bees. 15g
Act 2: Ton o’ Honey
Engineered a patch of gargantuan flowers for a humongous batch of honey. 20g
Yee-Oww!
Let each of the bees get the best of you. Ouch! 15g
Crack Shot
Fired the porridge gun with precision accuracy. 15g
No Go Gorgonzola
Road the Sniffer to success without resorting to the Gorgonzola. 15g
Act 3: Buzz Cutter
Pacified three gangs of delinquent Bees. 20g
Get Cracking
Cracking conversation lad! You’ve heard Wallace say “Cracking” in four of its instances. 15g
Act 4: Queenly Bearing
Tickled the belly of the beast and captured the angry queen bee herself. 20g
After playing the game for a third time (twice on PC, once on XBLA) I have to say I preferred playing on 360, but that is because I love my achievements. Because of that, I can overlook the loading and framerate problems, as well as Wallace appearing without a normal looking mouth in one cutscene, although I’m uncertain if that was a one-off or if it is a full problem that you’ll all see. It’s nothing major, just me nitpicking at what is a funny and well done first entry into the series.
It’s a shame that XBLA fans will have to wait that bit longer for The Last Resort, which I considered a much better episode and by then I’d imagine that PC owners will already have the next episode. Well…let’s hope Telltale get the Sam and Max games out to even out the gaps.
The Verdict
Fright of the Bumblebees is just as good as it was back in March, but now it’s open to more people over XBLA and with easy achievements to be had; it’s a must-have. Let’s hope it’s not too long till The Last Resort hits the console…
