Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures Ep 1: Fright of the Bumblebees

In an age where adventure games are as rare as a sober Amy Winehouse, it’s good to see that there’s a definite focus on quality. Brought to you by the guys who made the awesome StrongBad adventure games, Wallace & Gromit’s first episodic foray is pretty darn good. The premise is simple: Wallace and Gromit decide to embark a honey-making business and start off with having to deliver 50 gallons of it on their first day. As improbable and mundane as it seems, Fright of the Bumblebees is quite the looker and has its fair share of adventure.

Speaking of looks, the gameplay is almost like being in the animated film. The attention to detail is impeccable. Both Wallace and Gromit have been recreated in eerily accurate detail. The environments are done well enough to pass off as the backdrops to the movie and the music is faithful to the series with minor variations where required. Needless to say the production values are as close as they could get to being perfect and this is just an episodic release, not a full-priced retail game.

Also, more importantly, the puzzles make sense. Some adventure games have a kind of mindnumbing logic that’s downright impenetrable.  Fright of the Bumblebees, however, tests your brain with some simple puzzles that are rather satisfying to solve and really add to the fun, rather than detract from it. So if you’re looking for some good old fashion point-and-click adventuring you don’t have to look too far, this is definitely a must-have for lovers of the genre.