Naughty Bear (Xbox 360)

"Naughty Bear tells the tale of one demented teddy bear's ruthless efforts to torment and harass the inhabitants of the Island of Perfection."

Upon reading this concise description of Naughty Bear I was instantly intrigued, I feel that many new games that are being released are bland and frankly poor imitations of the Call of Duty series whereas Naughty Bear as a concept has the originality and comedy value that attracts me to gaming.
The opening sequence of the game aptly sets the scene for the game which is hilarious and at times just unusual. The over-arching objective of the game is to kill and terrorise bears in order to exact Naughty's revenge. There are a vast range of weapons and methods available to achieve this objective from careful stealth kills and disabling phone lines to simply getting a gun and killing every bear you see. It is this unique and varied style of play which really makes Naughty Bear feel like a rare treat. Additionally once a level has been completed with the method of your choice there are specific challenges to be achieved such as timed runs and completing the level without being seen by the other bears, this was a particularly nice touch and gels well with the 360's achievement system because it rewards you with online trophies and in game costumes with special bonuses and unique benefits which give the game a more tactical edge.
What I found disappointing about the game though is the lack of local multiplayer options. The online mode was adequate and the option to compare high scores with friends is a nice touch but I feel the problem with many new generation games is they fail to cater for more casual players who prefer to play together from the same room. In my experience the chance to get a decent score and enjoy the full potential of a level was a set back to taking it in turns to play through a level and obviously there is no split screen which would have alleviated this issue. In my opinion the lack of viable local multiplayer is the only thing holding back this fun and original game from the 5 star rating I feel it could so easily have achieved.

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