Licensed games can be downright bad. Take the ill-fated run that Acclaim had with the South Park games. Out of that, the company produced three below-average efforts, including a first-person shooter (with yellow snowballs and a chicken gun), a clunker of a trivia game (Chef's Luv Shack), and a racing game so bad that crashing actually became an advantage. Even the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, hated the games. That's a more powerful statement than any sales sheet can boast.

Game publisher 2K Games knew the risks when the company picked up the Family Guy video game license, but it vowed to make a game worthy of the show's smarmy humor and style. So now that it's arrived, the question can be asked, "does this game get over the hump that South Park couldn't clear? Well, actually, yes. Family Guy won't win any awards, but it provides enough entertaining gameplay to make it worth its $30 price tag.

The game gives you control over the show's three primary characters: Brian (the martini-drinking dog with a twist of ultra-sarcasm), Peter Griffin (the idiotic head of the household who knows his way around fist-fights), and Stewie (a dominant young kid with a great intellect, as well as a powerful ray gun and mind control helmet). Each of the characters is used differently, which helps to move the game's story along. Brian, sent off to jail for impregnating a champion dog named Seabreeze, must use stealth to sneak out of prison and find evidence that will prove his innocence. Stewie, eager to put a stop to his evil twin Bertram, is all action, firing off laser beams and getting through platforming segments. As for Peter, he kicks ass and takes names, even if it means pummeling innocent women and children. And he HATES chickens. If you watch the TV show, you probably already know why. Lois (Peter's wife) and Quagmire (GIGGITY!) also pop up, but under Stewie's mind control.

Unfortunately, the game has a few snags. There aren't enough checkpoints, which means players will be starting over from the same spot a few times to get through a certain stage. This is certainly the case for Brian's segments. If you're caught even by the least harmful of lowlifes, like a naked guy in the shower or someone in a jail cell, he has to start over at the beginning. It's extremely frustrating.

Then there's the game's length. Experienced gamers will be able to get through most of Family Guy within about a day, only needing to go back to revisit their favorite mini-games or find certain icons to complete the game at 100 percent. There aren't many extras to speak of, so it's hard to find motivation to really go back and find everything.Despite these annoyances, Family Guy still manages to work.

Continue...