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The Plot:   Certainly, Britney Spears serves as eye candy and she's a pretty good singer/dancer, to boot. However, I can't say that I'd consider anything about the Britney Spears Experience to be a worthwhile videogame. And, after playing around with "Britney's Dance Beat", I have to say that I still feel the same way. Although the game did admittedly provide a few minutes of fun, my response to it after a few days was, "and?" The premise is simple: you are a dancer auditioning to be a member of Britney's touring performers. You go through a series of auditions to Britney numbers (the videos play in a small screen in the back) while dancing in different environments. A small circular image is at the bottom corner of the screen - a little dial goes around the circle, highlighting different images that correspond to buttons on the control. Higher levels mix in different buttons to press - clicking on the appropriate button in time rates you either "perfect", "good" or "miss". At the end of each audition, you get a number of points based upon how well you did, which you can exchange for different level passes to unlock video concert/backstage footage. The game can be played in a couple of different ways: one-player audition pits the player against the computer. The circular image and button details appear in the lower corner and a bar shows in the middle. Depending on how good the player does, the bar heads in their direction. At the end of the song, if the bar's in your favor, you're the winner. Other little gimmicks appear during gameplay - if you get several "combos" (dance moves/button hits done perfect) in a row, you send a little spark at your competition, trying to mess them up with an unexpected step. You can also play a 2-player version, practice or watch a demo of the game, as well. As for the supplements, they include backstage clips of Britney on tour and "immersive" video presentations of concert footage. The backstage footage isn't anything particularly insightful or interesting, but the video clips actually use a new technology that, while not really stunning here, shows potential. Essentially, you operate a camera at a Britney concert, with the ability to move the camera 360 degrees, rolling around to see the audience or smoothly spinning back around to see Britney. However, while spinning around was smooth, there's little ability to zoom in/out and the video quality is mediocre, appearing pretty soft and lacking detail. Still, hopefully this technology can be put to use with future DVD concert presentations. Overall, while these supplements are decent on their own, they weren't really a big drive to push further in the game so that I could unlock more extras. While the game does get increasingly difficult as it progresses, there's nothing much to the game itself. It needs a sub-game or something more - maybe some sort of game where you try and plan out Britney's concert tour or something. That's not here, though - while tapping the keys repeatedly to win in the auditions is fun for a little bit, I thought it got old pretty quickly. Hardcore fans of Britney may want this, but personally, I felt there was just enough here to maybe make it a fair rental. Rating: 7/10 The Game: Graphics: The graphics are simply average - while there's nothing wrong with the image quality of what's on-screen, there's nothing particuarly inspired or very interesting about it, either. The dancers all look rather plain and don't have much character to them, with the exception of basic little statements of celebration if you win. Virtual Britney, on the other hand, is very good looking. Although this is an "E" rated game, Britney's image is not toned down in the slightest (good!) and she appears in skimpy outfits, showing quite a bit of digital cleavage. However, Britney's (rare! boo!) appearances in the game itself aren't as well-rendered as the smoother-appearing Britney in the game's brief intro. Still, digital Britney looked good enough to be distracting when she appeared. Rating: 8/10 Sound: Sound quality for the game is perfectly fine - the stereo soundtrack offers the 5 songs included with nice bass and fine clarity. Yes - I did mention only 5 songs, which is severely dissapointing. Included are: "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!...I Did it Again", "Stronger", "Overprotected", and "I'm a Slave 4 U". Britney has a couple of albums out at this point, so why more songs weren't used to keep things from becoming repetitive is a mystery. Rating: 7/10 Gameplay: As previously mentioned, the player must hit the right button (square, x, circle, triangle) at the right time to complete the steps. While this was basically amusing for a little while, it began to dawn on me quickly that I was simply sitting there hitting random buttons. Although the audition levels get progressively more challenging, I still felt that replay value is pretty low in this game. A dance pad can be used to play the game, which may add a bit more fun - and certainly more exercise - to the experience, but the game still lacks enough to keep players coming back again and again. Rating: 7/10 Rating Issues: The game is rated "E" for Everyone. Britney's outfits during her brief appearances in the game show off quite a bit, but I doubt anyone hasn't seen skimpy-outfit Britney already. Final Thoughts: I thought "Britney's Dance Beat" was a fairly limited game - although I had fun for a little while, I quickly lost interest. Although the graphics are respectable, the game needs more songs and more to do. Rent it. |