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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       25th August 2001: Freak Out  The Worlds First 3D Elastic Adventure! Posted by John Grothier - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe Once in a while a game comes along that is so different from the normal driving or shooting genre. Freak Out is best described as an 3D ‘Elastic’ Adventure, but unfortunately there is far too much elastic and not nearly enough adventure. Freak Out is the unusual story of an unusual little girl. Linda lived in a big house with her twelve very vain sisters. One day, while Linda was out collecting her sister’s cosmetics, a mysterious van delivered a mysterious package to the house. As conceited sisters gathered around, the box began to shake and opened up by itself! The sides dropped to the floor and an ominous looking doorway was revealed. A strange voice chanted a mesmerising verse, by the time it was finished the twelve sisters had forgotten about Linda, their cosmetics delivery, in fact they had forgotten about everything. They barely even noticed as the door slowly began to open… As Linda approached the house a blinding light flashed from inside, then suddenly there was a large explosion, windows shattered, and Linda dashed inside. The mysterious door was open and light poured from it. A strange high pitched laugh emanated from the door, and then a strange thing – her scarf started to move, coiling itself around her like a snake! Her scarf had become possessed! Bravely Linda stepped through the door, she was her sisters only hope. Linda starts her elastic adventure in the aptly named ‘Museum of Agony’, which is the central hub and from which all other areas are eventually accessible. The first thing you will notice is Freak Out's fantastic style of graphics; think a more colourful version of Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Inside the museum there are a number of doors. These lead to two different kinds of levels, the EX worlds and the sister’s realms. The only way to rescue Linda’s sisters is to exorcise each one using your friendly possessed scarf. But the now demonic sisters are behind locked doors, and the only way to open them is to gain points in the EX worlds. There are four Ex worlds, (EXterior), each with their own theme- ice, island, factory and rooftop. These worlds are simple levels that contain ‘Zako’; minions of the demons of vanity. The primary form of the Zako are young women who wished that a certain part of their body were augmented, that’s big breasts to you and me. To destroy these vain well-endowed demons, Linda must use her scarf to manipulate and stretch the big-breasted women in order to weaken and eventually destroy them. Once Linda has dispatched the bouncy demons, she will be awarded with a point to use to unlock the doors in the Museum of Agony. There are twelve ‘sister’ doors in the museum, each leading to a different self-loving demon. Each of the sisters has been transformed into a large ‘Boss’. Each of these boss encounters are visually stunning and all have different weak points for you to find and exploit. Most of these are fairly straight forward, but some can be frustratingly hard. Once you have exorcised the demon, Linda must return to one of the EX worlds in order to gain points to enter the other sisters realms. And that’s about it! For all Freak Out’s ‘elastic’ style it really has very little substance. You get the feeling that Freak Out is really missing something. The Ex worlds are just too simple; it’s just a matter of tweaking breasts and then exiting through the door. Just like a normal Saturday night. The boss encounters are fantastically done, but strangely unrewarding – because of the lack of any real challenge to unlock them. If only some more adventure elements were put in place, puzzles and the like would have been perfect to solve using Linda’s possessed scarf. The game would have been more challenging, and dare I say it – fun. The control system is cleverly designed using the left analogue stick to move Linda, and the right stick to control the scarf. It works well and is extremely responsive. The graphics are truly a visual masterpiece, but are spoilt terribly by yet another bad PAL conversion. Huge black bars impair what would have been real treat for the eyes. Nothing has been implemented for its European release; no 60htz refresh mode and no screen adjust option, so play may be off centre depending on your television. Sound is used to good effect with some nice sound effects, and the music matches the style of gameplay. Overall Freak Out is a disappointment, it looks stunning but there is just far too much elastic and not enough adventure for my liking. Who would of thought I would get tired of tweaking breasts! John Grothier             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  The worlds first 3D elastic adventure, with too much elastic and nowhere near enough adventure. Twelve boss levels to fight and not much else. Disappointing.  Related Games:  Freak Out for PlayStation 2  20  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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