Who doesn’t love cute cuddly teddy bears? Naughty Bear – that’s who! While his fellow bears enjoy parties and disco dance parties, Naughty is never invited, and it's time for revenge. In this hack and slash horror challenge, gamers play as the dastardly Naughty Bear. Reminiscent of Fairytale Fights, Naughty Bear is colorful and playful... but where Fairytale Fights gave us arterial spray far and wide, Naughty de-fluffs the other bears in Teen-rated violence.
Each of Naughty Bear's seven episodes features four separate missions, and a bonus eighth episode is available as free downloadable content. Each episode features a different theme, from government bears (Big Ted is Watching), zombies (Night of the Living Ted), and aliens (When Aliens Attack). Within each mission, there are challenges that Naughty Bear must complete to beat the mission. Beware though, if you fail one of these challenges, gamers are taken back to the beginning of the mission... complete with load times, re-selection of your bear costume, and so forth. DO NOT FAIL THESE CHALLENGES! Players with patience will fair well, as strategy and forethought are required to complete some of the challenges.
Challenges come in the form of seven different game types: killer, friendly, insanity, untouchable, speed run, invisible, and top hat. Killer mode is probably the easiest, and will be enjoyed by all the button-mashers out there. In a friendly match, Naughty Bear cannot hurt another bear, which means players cannot hit or punch them; however you can still trap them in bear traps and drive them insane. Of course, there's also an insanity game type, and it's probably the most fun you'll have. By repeatedly scaring the other bears, you'll drive them insane, eventually committing suicide in the most horrific ways... plunging a machete into their chest, whacking themselves over the head with a bat, ore one shot to the temple. Gruesome.
The most annoying game type is untouchable, where players must complete the mission without incurring any injuries... Naughty can hide in the woods, but one shot from an Army Bear and you're back to the loading screen. In invisible mode, make sure you are not seen more than five times. Speed Run is obviously a timed mission, so speed is of the essence. Top Hat mode is the hardest game type, with stronger bears who are armed with laser guns. In order to get through some missions and pocket a couple achievements, Naughty Bear may need to hide in closets for lengthy periods of time waiting to scare the other bears. This is where a gamer’s patience comes into play.
From a presentation standpoint, Naughty Bear looks and sounds exactly how it needs to, and while nobody will be wowed by the graphics (except maybe the creepy title screen flip), the art design and animations are a lot of fun to watch. Naughty Bear’s music is the same in each episode which can get repetitive, but the individual bears’ sound effects provide amusement and variety for your listening pleasure.
Naughty Bear has a lot of faults – the storyline is nothing to speak of, with a simple “Naughty is left out... time to die!” theme in every episode. There are bugs – once in a while a bear will get stuck in a doorway, or Naughty will get pushed into a room while performing an assassination. Also, the rotation of the mini-map makes it difficult to gain your bear-ings while tracking down elusive challenge elements... you may find yourself re-walking the same turf over and over in search of one collectible.
But... while Naughty Bear got slayed in the reviews, it's really not a bad game. You will absolutely have fun driving the other bears insane, flushing their heads in toilets, or hacking them to death with a hatchet. What's more, the game updates you with the next gamer's high score as you continue to move up the leader board, so there's always a feeling of accomplishment. Plus, the more you win, the more costumes you unlock, and each costume looks different and provides different abilities and weapons. If you want to play as a ninja bear, you can do it, and you're stronger, faster, and more undetectable.
Finally, there's a lot of horror-based strategy in beating the challenges, so if you ever wanted to cut someone's phone lines, disable their car, then climb into their wardrobe and scare the life out of them... do it! Well, in the game, anyway. The booby traps are a lot of fun to set and wait, and they're a great way to maximize points and get quick kills/insanities. If that sounds like fun to you... it is. Lots of fun. Forget the review scores and know that renting or picking up a cheap copy of Naughty Bear will give you hours of laughs and a unique game experience.
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3.0