Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures
Developer(s) Telltale Games
Publisher(s) Telltale Games
Director(s) Andy Hartzell
Joe Pinney
Sean Vanaman
Producer(s) Franklin Alioto
Designer(s) Andy Hartzell
Joe Pinney
Sean Vanaman
Programmer(s) Andrew Langley
Robert Oates
Kevin Bruner
Writer(s) Andy Hartzell
Joe Pinney
Sean Vanaman
Composer(s) Jared Emerson-Johnson
Series Wallace and Gromit
Engine Telltale Tool
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Xbox 360
iOS
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Graphic adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures is an episodic graphic adventure based around the characters of Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. The game was developed and published by Telltale Games. It was first released for Microsoft Windows with the first episode released on March 23, 2009, the second episode released on May 5, 2009, the third episode released on June 15, 2009 and the fourth episode released on July 30, 2009. It was then released for Xbox 360 with the first episode released on May 27, 2009,[1] the second episode was due to be released on September 8, 2009, but the announcement was shortly retracted; instead, the final three episodes were released simultaneously on the service on November 4, 2009.[2]

Episodes are developed by Telltale Games in collaboration with Aardman Animations to develop the story, characters, and setting.[3] Players control both Wallace and Gromit at times through the gameplay.[3] Ben Whitehead, Aardman's official backup voice actor, portrays Wallace, instead of Peter Sallis, who had voiced the character in all screen appearances up to that point.[4] A playable demo of the first episode was made available on March 16, 2009 and can be downloaded from the official site as well as Yahoo Games. It is also included on the Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray releases of A Matter of Loaf and Death as DVD-ROM content. On January 14, 2014, Telltale Games removed the game from sale due to the expiration of their distribution rights for the Wallace & Gromit intellectual property;[5] customers who previously purchased the game can still download the episodes from their game library.

Synopsis

Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees

Wallace has opened a new business, "From Bee to You" specialising in delivering freshly made honey to his customers. He takes up the offer to provide fifty gallons of honey in repayment to the local grocer after his electric cheese-detecting machine accidentally rampaged through the store on a test run. However, Wallace has used up all the flowers in his garden, and is forced to improvise a growth formula to turn some daisy seeds provided by his neighbour, Ms. Flitt into giant flowers. The formula is a success, and he meets his client's demand but things soon go wrong when the bees react to the growth formula, becoming huge and terrorizing the town and Wallace's home. Gromit is able to trap most of the bees, but Wallace is stolen away by the giant queen bee. Gromit gives chase in Wallace's honey tanker truck, and is able to rescue Wallace. The two work together to feed the queen more honey dosed with more of the growth formula, forcing the bee to become stuck in a tunnel. Wallace works out an antidote to the growth formula to restore the bees to normal, though he accidentally shrinks himself in the process.

Episode 2: The Last Resort

Using their profits from the honey business, Wallace prepares to take Gromit to Blackpool, but the weather both spoils their plans and creates a small flood in the cellar. Wallace comes up with the idea of converting the water-logged cellar into an indoor holiday resort for the rest of the townsfolk, and seeks to keep them all happy, though Ms. Flitt's two puppies raise much havoc. When Ms. Flitt's boyfriend, Duncan McBiscuit is mysteriously injured, Wallace and Gromit deduce that the puppies, upset at having their chew toy taken away from them, attacked Duncan. In the episode's finale, the cellar drain becomes dislodged, and the puppies, chasing after their chew toy, follow it and end up in a prison cell, while Wallace starts to clean up the mess. Just as everyone leaves, a whistling man with a mustache posts a flyer for a charity fair through the door to 62 West Wallaby Street.

Episode 3: Muzzled!

Shortly after the holiday season, a charity fair comes into town, run by Monty Muzzle, to raise money for a new dog shelter, the old one being destroyed in the storm last episode. After dealing with three strays in their home, Wallace and Gromit go to the fair with Wallace's new invention to create any flavor of ice cream. At the fair, Gromit discovers that Mr. Muzzle is actually attempting to steal away the townspeople's donations and using the strays as manual labor for the fair. When Wallace and Gromit uncover Mr. Muzzle's intentions, he escapes on a makeshift balloon, but Wallace and Gromit give chase, denying Mr. Muzzle of his ill-gotten money while saving all the strays. Ms. Flitt, who dumped Duncan McBiscuit earlier in the episode and has grown to admire the "bravery" of Wallace (unaware that it was actually Gromit that stopped Muzzle), mistakes his confusion at finding a loose fastening nut as an engagement ring and a marriage proposal from him.

Episode 4: The Bogey Man

Wallace starts a new business called Golden Retrieval which aims to find lost objects and Major Crum hires him. In order to defuse Ms. Flitt's mistake in accepting what she had mistaken as a proposal from Wallace, Gromit manages to make him a member of the local country club, Prickly Thicket, which Ms. Flitt's aunt Prudence loathes and soundly rejects her niece's marriage to Wallace. Ernest Dibbins, the local constable, jealous that Wallace was admitted over him, uses an obscure bylaw to threaten the club with closure since it does not have a golf course–or rather it does, but members do not know where it is because the deed is missing, safely held in a security system designed by Wallace's (apparent) ancestor, Goodman Witless (and his faithful dog Gimlet). Using his detective equipment Wallace manages to find the deed which Major Crum hired him to do, but discovers that the entire town was built on the golf course, and a vengeful Duncan decides to have the town destroyed in order to rebuild the course. Wallace challenges Duncan to a golf tournament so that he may become chairman and tear up the deed, saving the town, and manages to win with Gromit's help. However, as he goes to tear the deed, the security system traps him and the other townsfolk in a room, and Gromit is forced to disable the trap and free everyone. Wallace tears up the deed, and is thankful to find that Ms. Flitt has cancelled their engagement and gone back to Duncan, who her aunt almost now approves of since he is no longer the club chairman.

Reception

Aggregate review scores
Game GameRankings Metacritic
Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees (PC) 78%[6]
(X360) 75%[7] 		(PC) 76[8]
(X360) 73[9]
Episode 2: The Last Resort (PC) 74%[10]
(X360) 72%[11] 		(PC) 72[12]
(X360) 73[13]
Episode 3: Muzzled! (PC) 77%[14]
(X360) 75%[15] 		(PC) 75[16]
(X360) 72[17]
Episode 4: The Bogey Man (PC) 74%[18]
(X360) 74%[19] 		(PC) 72[20]
(X360) 72[21]

Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees

Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 78% and 76/100[6][8] and the Xbox 360 version 75% and 73/100.[7][9]

Episode 2: The Last Resort

Episode 2: The Last Resort received moderately positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 74% and 72/100[10][12] and the Xbox 360 version 72% and 73/100.[11][13]

Episode 3: Muzzled!

Episode 3: Muzzled! received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 77% and 75/100[14][16] and the Xbox 360 version 75% and 72/100.[15][17]

Episode 4: The Bogey Man

Episode 4: The Bogey Man received mostly positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 74% and 72/100[18][20] and the Xbox 360 version 74% and 72/100.[19][21]

References

  1. ↑ Padilla, Raymond (February 4, 2009). "'Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures' Coming To PC And Xbox 360 Spring 2009". G4TV. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  2. ↑ O'Conner, Alice (October 29, 2009). "Wallace & Gromit's Grand XBLA Adventures Dated". Shacknews. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures FAQ". Telltale Games. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Wallace Unavailable". The International House of Mojo. February 14, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ G-Doc (January 13, 2014). "Weekend Promo: Adventures NOW!". GOG.com. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 2: The Last Resort Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 2: The Last Resort Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 2: The Last Resort Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit Episode 2: The Last Resort Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 3: Muzzled! Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  15. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 3: Muzzled! Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  16. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 3: Muzzled! Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  17. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 3: Muzzled! Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  18. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 4: The Bogey Man Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  19. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 4: The Bogey Man Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  20. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 4: The Bogey Man Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Episode 4: The Bogey Man Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 7, 2013.

External links

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