S&S Review: Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise

Title: Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise
Format: PSN, XBLA
Release Date: October 10, 2012
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Behaviour Interactive
Price: $15
ESRB Rating: T

Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise is the second go around as the menacing Naughty, and with the first outing not going as planned, the second game looks to bounce back on Paradise Island.  

Story and Presentation:
The concept of both Naughty Bear games have always been perfect, Naughty is always being left out from the other bears' group activity, so he seeks out revenge on the bears that have forgotten him.  In Panic in Paradise, all the lovable cuddle bears decide to go on vacation, but they didn't invite Naughty.  This obviously doesn't sit well with Naughty, so he decides to hitch a ride on the bottom of the bears' bus.  Once again he decides to terrorize and kill all the bears that have betrayed him.  Just another beautiful concept in its own right, and one of the main reasons I enjoy this game.  Visually the game is pretty rough around the edges, it doesn't look really next-gen at all.  The game looks like it was rendered on the PS2, just like the first Naughty Bear game.  The bears themselves look pretty good, and there are a lot of different cuddle bears that sport different colors and costumes. The animations are pretty hilarious, there are so many ways to kill each bear, and the expressions and fear shown by the bears getting murdered never gets old.  You get all the screams and the boos from Naughty and his cuddly victims, still just as amusing as ever.  Theres no doubt that the game focuses on humor rather than flash, and I have no problem with that whatsoever.  

Core Gameplay:
Gameplay wise, the game is setup like a Hitman game.  At the beginning of each level, you'll be given a specific bear to assassinate.  The problem is that he is surrounded by a number of smaller cuddlier bears.  There are a number of ways to complete each mission, with tons of weapons and environmental hazards for you to make use of.  Lawn mowers and sharp cacti await your victims' cuddly bodies. Each level gives you specific objectives to complete, but only one of them are required.  All you have to do is take out the main bear of that level, every other objective is optional, but they do reward you with more XP and money. The problem that made its way from the last Naughty Bear, is the repetitive nature of the game.  Missions start to seem repetitive rather quickly.  The game has a few added RPG elements that breaks up the monotony quite a bit, after every level you earn experience and money that allows you to build up Naughty.  You can purchase different outfit options that gives you different perks that affects your overall health or stamina.  Even though the game gets pretty repetitive, the game is still a whirl of fun.

Final Thoughts:
Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise is much better game than the original.  It doesn't have as many bugs as the first, and it improves on basically every aspect of the first.  The wonderful concept of the game overshadows the rough presentation, and solid gameplay makes a good downloadable sequel.  

S&S Rating: 7.5/10

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