"An Alright Expansion"

The Movies Stunts & Effects has a lot to offer to fans, but what it gives is just not enough. Maybe another expansion pack and a new way of thinking may give the Movies what it needs to satisfy our tastes. With close to no hope for another expansion due to poor sales, this will probably be the best we'll get in a while if not forever.

Game play - 6/10

Still the same old movie studio tycoon. Nothing really different except some new sets, rewards, props, buildings, items, scenes, and all that. The only thing that really separates the expansion from the original are the new features of stunts and free cam. Your Actors can do stunts, but they may risk breaking a bone or hurting themselves and thats where stunt men come into play. With the new feature of Stunts, your Stars can jump from buildings, run through fire, and get into even worse car crashes than the original. Instead of making your Stars do this stuff you train your stunt men to do these so that the actors can remain healthy. The success or failure of a stunt impacts your movie and how critics will view it. So if a stunt goes bad, you might get 2 1/2 stars, if it goes good you might get 3 stars. This is the only thing that really changes, and a few new stuff for your stuntmen like the Ring of Fire, the Hospital, and a stunt tutorial thats basically all that has changed. They also added the addition of flying objects like the helicopter, spaceships, and all that good stuff. Green Screen and Blue Screen actually relieve some of the pain of having to recycle sets.

Graphics - 8/10

Even though the graphics are the same, they are still some breathtaking graphics if you have the right graphics card for them to be displayed on the best settings. There are a few bugs here and there, but its alright. Theres not much I can say about graphics. Everything looks pretty good.

Music - 6/10

The music is alright. I actually do have a spot in my heart for a few of the songs, but that is pretty much it. I'm happy they allow you to upload your own music though. The music seems well done, but sometimes can get a bit repetitive with the amount of remixed songs.

Free cam

One of the only things that actually made me want to buy Stunts & Effects next to the flying objects. The Freecam allows you to control the camera and position it anywhere you want in a scene. Although this does give you some freedom, it still limits you into the pre set scene a bit. The Freecam works wonders in making scenes look totally different, I just don't have to use the boring old crane 1 scene to show my set. I can use the freecam to go all around my set, or focus on different characters in a scene.

Sound - 8/10

What much could I say? The sound is clear, I can put custom sounds in as well. There are just a few sounds that I wish I wouldn't have to find myself since they may not sound really good in the movie.

Pros

- Free cam.
- Blue & green screens.
- Flying objects.
- New sets, props, clothes, buildings, scenes, ect.
- Stunts and Stunt men.

Cons

- Not enough freedom.
- Same boring, repetitive gameplay.
- No hope for another expansion.
- Poor sales.

Overall - 7/10

If only we were promised another expansion. This may have occupied our time for a few good months, but it's just not enough. With poor sales, the lack of fans, and the cancel of the console versions, this eagerly waited masterpiece went down the drain.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/07