Dog's Life PS2 Review Morgan City LA

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a dog? Walking around all day, chewing bones, going for walks etc. Well if you have a PS2, Sony is giving you that chance with a Dog's Life, letting you be a dog from every perspective and they have formed an adequate action game around this experience.

The premise behind Dog's Life is very much like the movie Homeward Bound. You play as Jake who is on a mission to rescue his girlfriend Daisy, so instead of traveling across the countryside to find home, you're trying to save his girlfriend. Daisy and Jake are kidnapped by scientists who think dogs carry horrible diseases. Jake manages to escape, but Daisy is taken and from there the story begins.

Dog's Life is a third person action/adventure game. You as Jake move around the surrounding environments talking to people and trying to gather bones. These bones build Jakes strength, speed and other attributes to help him defeat other dogs in the neighbourhood. To receive bones you can have tasks such as gathering eggs for some local children, herding sheep for a farmer or just finding them with your nose.

Bones play an important role in Dog's Life. Each dog has a bone rating and if you don't have the same amount as them or more, then you won't be able to compete with them in the mini games to progress further. When you have enough bones and have collected enough smells, you can race that particular dog. Should you win you can then control the dog to help get you past areas, or find more bones. Most of the dogs at first are quite easy to beat but they do become more difficult.

The mini games featured in Dog's Life include games such as racing and a digging race. In racing your objective is to not only finish first, but to have eaten the most food along the way. Jake relies on food, and if you go too long without it, his animations change to make him look lethargic and slow. The constant moan of him talking about how hungry he is can get repetitive and boring so finding food should be a high priority. He can eat food such as pizza, meat, sandwiches etc.

Throughout the world of Dog's Life Jake will be able to find various smells. To do this you use the smellovision, which is basically a first person view from his nose. These smells do numerous things. If you pick up enough of one type you might be rewarded with a bone, or the ability to race another dog. Some smells have to be picked up in quick succession, whilst others can be taken at Jakes own pace. Although it can seem clunky to control at first, this is where most of the game should be spent as finding smells is required for most tasks.

The biggest problem with Dog's Life is that it can become repetitive, monotonous and boring quickly. Most of the tasks are non-interesting, such as finding a doll for a mothers baby, or picking up eggs. In fact that particular task points out just how monotonous it can become. You take a basket from the local children back to the chicken house. Rather then being able to pick up eggs with the basket in your mouth, you have to put it down, pick up the eggs, and drop them in the basket. Now, sure a dog in real life couldn't do it, but this is a video game its meant to be fun not frustratingly monotonous. A small gripe, but one that many people will find annoying.

The animations featured in Dog's Life are a mixed bag. Jake at times animates really well such as when jumping, or bounding around the place but at other times with other dogs or characters it can be not so great. The animations overall are quite impressive and being able to control other dogs is a great feature. The environments look adequate but not overly impressive.