G-Force Hands On

The combination of Disney, animated guinea pigs and Jerry Bruckheimer would normally send me running and screaming in terror in the opposite direction. However, I put aside my fears for a hands-on opportunity with the upcoming video game, G-Force.

Based around the animated family film of the same name, G-Force is about genetically modified, highly-trained rodents (a team of three guinea pigs and a mole) who, thanks to their pocket size, are perfect for espionage duty. Their advanced intelligence has allowed them to develop high-tech technology and an assignment, that would normally take the FBI months to complete, only takes a couple of hours for our little furry agents.

Yes, it’s a pretty deep storyline – but bear with us as there’s more. It turns out that the world’s leading consumer electronics company, Saber Electronics, have bigger plans than just dominating the kitchen appliance market. Saber’s sinister CEO (voiced by the surly Bill Nighy) is actually out for world domination and has secretly installed malicious microchips into every single one of their products, causing them to become bloodthirsty robots. This means you’ll be up against evil coffee machines, insane cellphones, chomping waffle irons, tentacled toasters and heaps more. The enemies in G-Force are extremely imaginative, making every new encounter with them enjoyable.

Overall G-Force looks to be a surprisingly fun game. It combines stealth, puzzle solving and a fast-paced platform style of action that is put together very nicely. As Darwin, the leader of the team, you have access to amusing (but handy) little gadgets including rocket packs, paw-mounted blasters, grappling hooks and miniature heat-vision goggles. But probably the main highlight looks to be your tiny side-kick housefly pal named Mooch. His pint-sized, airborne body is perfect for surveillance, letting you see places that Darwin can’t access, even zipping between rooms through the grates of air vents to explore new areas.

From our hands-on experience, G-Force is shaping up to be very promising indeed. It shuns the typical “we have a kiddie movie so let’s just churn out a kiddie game” attitude and has been treated like a decent high-end title along the lines of the Spyro or Ratchet franchises. The graphics are polished, the gameplay has good depth and despite the occasional “potty joke”, the characters are amusing and likeable. We’ll confirm this though as soon as the review copy comes rolling in (in a guinea-pig ball).