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| Game Details | Released
25 August 2006 | | Format
PS2, PC, Xbox 360 | | Developer
Eidos Interactive |
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Reservoir Dogs
 Review
The tragedy is, it all starts so well… Moments after the game loads, your skin will begin to tingle as the George Baker Selection’s Little Green Bag swaggers in and portraits of the digital Dogs slide gracefully across the screen; effortlessly cool, just like Tarantino’s indie classic. But once the adventure begins, things take a dramatic turn for the worse.
Like most big titles, Reservoir Dogs opens with a series of training missions that instruct you in the subtleties of playing the game. However, these scenes are staged in the empty warehouse where the film unfolds, and find Mr. Orange proving he’s the right man for the bank job by battling the other Dogs with paintball guns. Yup, paintball guns. And while it’s ludicrous enough to see your favourite bad boys poncing around like marketing execs on a bonding weekend, the action’s punctuated by nonchalant wisecracks that desperately try to ape Tarantino’s razor-sharp dialogue, but which sound unintentionally hilarious when you’re simply being told what buttons to press. For a game that prides itself on filling in the blanks from the movie, this is not a good start.
Around this time, you’ll also notice the Dogs don’t look quite right. Although Michael Madsen provided his likeness for the game — and his polygonal double is spot on — the rest of the gang appear to have been recast, with a stumpy Tom Selleck as Mr. Pink, Benny Hill as Nice Guy Eddie, H from Steps as Mr. Orange and, most bizarre of all, a gurning Madsen impersonator as Mr. Brown.
While it’s true that games shouldn’t be judged on their graphics alone, when you’re dealing with one of the most revered movies in recent cinema history, convincing recreations of the main players is a basic necessity. Failing to secure the likenesses of Keitel, Buscemi, et al proves a fatal handicap.
Worst of all, once you’ve got over the disappointment of the visuals, all that’s left is a rather ordinary action game. And while abusing hostages and capping cops is fun for a while, Reservoir Dogs’ confusing tangle of buttons makes it a chore to play and a crippling disappointment overall.
Reviewer: David McComb
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