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'Catherine' is a stranger-than-fiction tale about Vincent, the drunken commitment-phobe. You are Vincent. A man in a dead end job committed to a beautiful woman named Catherine; who nags you all the time about your drinking, unwillingness to make a formal commitment, and general lack of ambition. While hanging out with your friends at your local pub you meet a trampy succubus named Katherine and spend the rest of the evening with her. When you fall asleep you are transported to some sort of hell-world and morphed into a sheep. The only way to get out is to architect an escape route by moving and climbing up a series of blocks. Once you climb your way out and wake up, Katherine is in the bed next to you. Naturally you don't remember any of the juicy stuff but you know you've cheated on your faithful, soon-to-be the mother of your child, girlfriend. That is the plot of 'Catherine', in a nutshell. Yes, this game is as peculiar as it sounds. 'Catherine' is Japanese cartoon animation sequences betwixt drunken revelry and block-climbing puzzles. There are two main game-play portions of the game; one where you wander around your local watering hole interacting with the patrons, drinking, text messaging, selecting songs from the jukebox and playing an arcade game, and the other where you are some sort of barn-yard animal trying to climb out of the nightmare. Interspersed between these two gaming series are a number of long cut scenes where the story of Vincent unfolds without any power to influence the outcome. The appeal of Catherine is found in its originality. There is no denying some of its unique elements; utilizing text messaging to craft either compassionate messages or foul and dismissive responses to the women in Vincent's life, empowering the gamer to choose how drunk he gets in the bar, and deciding how he will spend his time in the evening. Another unique component is folded in to the block-climbing stage. Here gamers are posed with questions such as, “Is marriage the beginning or the end of life?” After a selection is made Vincent's character either becomes more positive or negative and the gamer has the opportunity to see how others have answered the same question. The block-climbing puzzles are the mainstay of the game. Creatively integrating various block-moving manoeuvres you find your way to scale the wall. They are fast paced and difficult to the point of turn-off-the-console-and-walk-away frustrating. Every nightmare sequence has a series of levels to complete, with the final stage being chased by a demonic representation of someone from Vincent's life like his unborn baby or his girlfriend in a bride outfit. Oooh scary… As unique as the game is, I found it disjointed. Transitioning between the highly interactive and playable block-climbing sequences, the somewhat interactive bar scenes, and the passive movie cut-scenes make the game experience jarring. There was not enough playable interaction in the bar scenes to make it appealing and the movie sequences were frustrating. Perhaps I'd feel differently if I didn't find the plot so reprehensible. Personally, it is hard to identify with a drunken lout who has commitment issues and cheats on his girlfriend with a ditch pig. Ah, that's just me I suppose. There is no doubt in my mind that many of the truly unique approaches to gaming that Catherine provides will become adopted in many other genres and platforms. The thought of integrating public opinion polls into the game experience is appealing; the idea of having behaviour modifying outcomes to messages sent back and forth is interesting. I look forward to see how these unique elements make their way into games with stronger storylines, better interlaced game segments, and more achievable puzzles. For now, I'll put Catherine on the shelf where she belongs.   Catherine Format: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus Persona Team ESRB Rating: M Official Site: http://catherinethegame.com/ Rating: 4 / 10

 

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About G4 in Canada
G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.