Dog's Life

"Woof woof, but no great stuff..."

Graphics: The graphics aren’t generally bad. Yet they aren’t that good. They are beautifully coloured and the graphics on the dogs are very nice. The faults with this game are generally that they could be easily improved. However, the water graphics are truly amazing and really do look nice. (7/10)

Sound: The sound on this game cannot be faulted. The barking is perfect, the water splashes are perfect and the voiceovers suite this game very well. The BGM is actually very smooth and enjoyable.
The only flaw with the sound is that more often than not, the sound will be delayed. For example: You bark at a postman, and then he responds 2 seconds later. This is only a minor fault though. (8/10)

Story: The story is pretty simple. You are a dog called Jake and the dog that you have a crush; Daisy, on has been dog-knapped. Your mission is to rescue her.
You go through many environments which I will come back to later. The only fault is that there is nothing to keep you gripped in with this story. The story is basic, yet is ideal for the younger generation. (6/10)

Controls: The controls are tight and responsive. You control Jake with the left analogue stick, and if there is any need to interact with any object/person/animal, you will see a paw icon in the upper-right corner of the screen, showing what button to press.
SQUARE: bark/growl
CIRCLE: Interact
X: Jump
TRIANGLE: 'Smellovision' (see below)

Game-play The idea of the game is great and it is done very well. This game is both fun and funny. You can do almost everything a dog can and yes, you can do what you are thinking!
Stealing chickens, playing with basket balls, eating, peeing, excreting and barking at innocent people all add to the fun. This game will supply an hour of laughs but when it comes down to the actual point of the game, you laugh. Not at how funny it is, but how lame it is. You just have to complete task after task to earn bones which in itself, is very patronising. You then set about rescuing Daisy which isn’t really that great.
Once you complete the game, which won’t take long, there is no need to replay. You will have had your fun; you will have heard all the ridiculous comments from the good spread of Wacky characters, so there’s nothing left to do.
The idea behind this game is great, and most of the game is great it’s just that it has no ‘substance’ to it. It’s like a jam sandwich but without the jam, and in some cases, the bread too. You will enjoy this and dog lovers will adore this but it isn’t anything special.
Rent it, see how you get on and then make a decision whether to buy it or leave it.

Smellovision: This feature puts the game in first person, with a black and white view, and anything you can interact with has a coloured 'smell' by it. This feature must be used in the game but it isn't anything too exciting because it makes the control over Jake alot more harder.

Score: 6/10
Short but fun.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/04