Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse

Game Info

Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy is a huge hit. The no-holds-barred comedy which takes a shot at anything and everything has provided some hilarious moments on TV, so naturally a game would release based on the series. But does the game match up to expectations or does it deserve a tomato thrown at it?

In Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse, the evil Bertram has created a multiverse remote and is going to different universes to cause havoc in order to destroy the universe in which Stewie and Bryan live. This is the setup for what is to come, which is a share of poorly told jokes, irritating one liners and dull game mechanics. Lucky there’s a family guy right?

Stewie and Bryan use their multiverse remote to track down Bertram and stop his evil plans before their universe is destroyed. It takes them to various universes, run in different ways. The first for example is run by fraternity jocks and in order to progress Stewie and Bryan need to assist the nerds in creating an awesome party. Players can rotate between Stewie and Bryan depending on which character they prefer and which weapon they want to use as each has a different set, but essentially the gameplay is the same.

Stewie and Bryan must locate certain things throughout all the levels in order to progress to the next level. By completing quests such as finding beer kegs, defeating chickens and the evil Mayor Adam West and other unremarkable scenarios Stewie and Bryan make their way through even more unremarkable areas and missions.

The game sets itself up as a third person shooter. The characters are attacked by enemies which possess the intelligence of a concussed ant, something which makes the game boring and repetitive. The missions and quests do nothing to change the pacing of the game through any of the 10 levels and for the most part you are doing the same thing over and over, just with subtle differences in different environments.

Family Guy is known for its crude humour, but even that aspect is off in the game. Apart from a few remotely funny moments, nothing throughout the game has you in stitches. The only thing that actually feels like a joke at all is the actual game, and even that isn’t funny.

If there is one positive about the game it is that it is at least functional. If you are looking for something to waste about 7 hours on, Back to the Multiverse will never really challenge you and you can add it to your finished list. It doesn’t have any bugs or problems but it just doesn’t offer anything that makes it overly worthwhile.

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse also offers some multiplayer modes such as deathmatch, or Capture the Greased Up Deaf Guy, which is a play on Capture the Flag for those that don’t know, but even these are not worthwhile. If you do manage to find a game online at all you probably won’t want to play for too long.

One saving grace for the game is that the co-op can be fun, sort of. There is something about a mindless shooting game which is made slightly better when played with a friend. The co-op allows a friend to join in the main story at any time and suffer with you. Misery loves company and all that.

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse really does feel like an attempt to cash in on the franchise. It offers nothing unique, nor does it offer anything that resembles a fun gaming experience. That could all have been okay if the humour had been up to scratch, but old jokes from the series coupled with some really dumb lines make it an experience to forget.