Note: Reviewed before Patch
Who says all princesses are skinny?
Fat Princess is a PlayStation Network exclusive that really tailors itself to the multiplayer community. The heart of the game is capture the capture the flag-style gameplay (with a princess as the flag) combined with class structure-type game play. Since the princess is the objective, the main way a team can make it difficult for the opponent to capture her is to feed her cake, making her fatter and more difficult for one person to carry. This game mechanic really lends itself to well-formed teams that can upgrade facilities like jobs and catapults while fattening up the princess and assaulting the enemy.
Multiplayer and single player host a variety of modes on a great selection of maps. Modes include capture the princess, deathmatch, invasion and a soccer mode. All except the soccer mode are available on almost all maps. The maps are innovative, varied in style and quite balanced for the types of play. Maps contain resources that can be farmed for each team’s castle, and smaller outposts that can be captured for a strategic advantage.
Worker, age, priest, and archer are the five distinctive classes each team has at its disposal. Each class is accessed via hat factories within each team’s castle. A player simply has to put on a different hat to assume a different role. Hats can also be picked up in the field as other players die. The hat factories are upgradeable via the wood and metal upgrades scattered across the map, and each class has one upgrade. The upgrades allow players to switch back and forth between iterations of the same class to have different effects in battle. For example, the can switch between fire and ice upgrades to cause continual damage on foes or just freeze them in place so teammates can more easily hit them. The worker class is the main source of mining upgrades, which, after farming, can be taken back to a captured outpost or castle to be used in upgrades.
Multiplayer matches support up to 32 players with 16 players on each side. Matchmaking is handled intelligently by the game, as weaker connections are not allowed to host more than the connection can handle and, if the host connection is lost, the game will automatically try to find the next best connection instead of kicking everyone in the game. Players can jump into the same game as those on their friends list or players can forgo the specific match choices with the “Jump In” option.
Multiplayer is really where this game shines. Sixteen vs. 16 person play can become a bit chaotic at times, but overall, the game is extremely enjoyable, especially when played with a group of people who all have headsets for voice chat. Unfortunately, one downside of multiplayer is the inescapable stalemates that arise every game. Matches can go on for at least 20 to 30 minutes if players are not well-organized and just end up fighting in one ball in the center of the map. Again, headsets are what make this game shine as even a small, organized group of players can thwart even larger numbers of enemies.
The single-player component of Fat Princess is quite forgettable. It does put a cute back-story to the game, but to get through the story, the player must endure the same stalemated matches with stupid AI (often seen standing around the battlefield) for eight battles. Beating the single-player mode unlocks some customizable parts of your player and a trophy, but the single player is still rather underwhelming when compared to the multiplayer experience.
Fat Princess is a truly enjoyable game on the multiplayer side. Some other issues like unbalanced classes — the and age in particular — are the cause of some annoyance, but the aesthetics of this unique game truly make it shine. Players login to the game and are greeted with several humorous options such as “Twiddly Knobs” and “Play With Yourself,” and the style is further accented by the cute characters killing each other in extremely bloody fashion. These visual options can be turned off, but doing so significantly takes away from the experience.
Despite slow-paced single player, frequently stalemated online matches and slightly unbalanced class structure, Fat Princess is a excellent game. Its style is unique and its game play fun enough to easily overlook the game’s flaws. If you have a PS3 and a headset, this game is a must buy — especially if you have friends who have it.
Grade: B
Platform: PlayStation 3>PlayStation Network
Price: $19.99
ESRB: T for Teen
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Titan Studios
Players: 1-32 (online)
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