"Plays like a high school theatre troupe acting out an episode of "Friends"."

Introduction

“Sprung” is a dating game made by UbiSoft for the Nintendo DS. I bought this game with my DS on launch. I bought it mistaking it for “Project Rub” (“Feel the Magic” in the US). This was an unfortunate mistake.

Story: 3/10

“Sprung” is a game that is played from 2 points of view. At the beginning of the game you are asked to choose whether you wish to be pretty-boy “Brett” or ditzy “Becky”. Brett and Becky are close friends who are going on holiday at some yuppie ski lodge. Brett and Becky are secretly in love with each other. Becky has just gone through a messy breakup. The aim of the game is to flirt with and chase after members of the opposite sex, with the ultimate aim of hooking up with your friend/secret love.

There are some serious flaws that detract from the game's story. The main problems with the story stem from the boring characters and the corny dialogue. There are several cringe-worthy moments that make you feel embarrassed on behalf of the writers. These fluffed lines come straight out of “generic teen sitcom #956”.

Gameplay: (4/10)

The gameplay in “Sprung” is based around the “dialogue tree”. During the game you converse with the game's characters through a series of multiple choices. Choose the right choice and you succeed in finessing your way into someone's bed (something that is only ever implied and is never explicitly said). Choose the wrong choice and you get slapped, usually forcing you back to the last save point. You can also acquire items, which are used from time to time.

Superficially this game is inspired by Japanese “date sims”, but underneath it all it has a lot in common with adventure games of the 1980s. I'm talking about the Sierra “Quest” games and the Infocom text adventures. These games would have one going from screen to screen exploring, picking up objects and then figuring out what said objects are meant for. There is a bit of that in Sprung, and some of the conversations are adventure game style. Some conversations test your problem solving ability and play like mini puzzles/riddles. This is good. But too often the conversations turn into trial-and-error affairs where one is forced to try every branch of the “dialogue tree” to find a “right answer” that is often counter-intuitive. This same kind of counter-intuitiveness was also a problem with the old adventure games, but was more forgivable back then than it is in “Sprung”.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphical presentation is actually very good. The game uses a nice, clean cartoon/anime style that is very appealing. The character you are speaking to is shown on the top screen, while your character is on the bottom screen. This allows you to see the emotion of the characters very vividly, although the number of emotive expressions is somewhat limited.

Play Time/Replay Value: 7/10

This game took me about 8-10 hours to complete Brett's story. It is not very long. Most of your time is tied up in the trial-and-error nature of the game.

The replay value in this game comes from playing the game through as Brett and then as Becky (or vice versa). Their stories are different. With Brett you will be flirting with the female characters, while as Becky you will be flirting with the male characters.

Conclusion:

This game had a lot of promise. In some ways the whole exercise feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity. A game such as this that relies almost entirely on story, characters and dialogue is always going to be hard to do. Some of the time it takes itself a little too seriously. Other times it tries to be funny and tongue-in-cheek but ends up being painfully lame. The characters are stereotypical without being cartoony caricatures (which would have been more interesting). Perhaps the game could have done with a little more drama and conflict mixed liberally with a healthy helping of absurd humour.

I played through to the ending, which was like lighting a small firecracker, only to find out that the gunpowder was wet. But that was to be expected from a game in which you play as a painfully “normal” (and boring) teenager/young adult with absolutely no personality who is in love with another painfully “normal” (and boring) teenager/young adult. Who the hell wants to do that?? The fact that there are rubbish teen TV shows and movies with similar plots is enough punishment. Don't buy this game. You may encourage a sequel.

Overall: 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/05