Nickelodeon’s Barnyard (GameCube) Review

What you get with Barnyard in terms of its presentation is basically what you would expect – something extremely solid, but nothing particularly wonderful. As usual, the graphics are definitely nice to look at, but really come across as run-of-the-mill in comparison to other developers’ efforts that try to push the envelope that little bit further. And the same goes for the audio aspect, with your main character simply not speaking, others only saying one or two lines maximum to start with, followed by silence and text, with another closing line of speech. This side is especially disappointing in the way it is implemented. Clearly having ALL lines voiced may have been too arduous a task, but the way it works with ‘voice snippet – long silence – voice snippet’ seems so disjointed that at first I thought my game disc was faulty! Ah well, at least the world of Barnyard and its animal inhabitants are more than recognisable to the child-oriented audience…

What the game lacks in presentation is made up for by the way the actual gameplay is dished out. Much like Rainbow Studios’ Cars had a hub style element, with various different tasks to be uncovered in the somewhat free-roaming world, Barnyard takes on a similar approach. You wander around as the new cow in ‘town’, talking to various other animals, each of which has a mission for you to complete. Eventually, your aim is to gain enough popularity to become a welcome addition to the gang and imprint your name on the area forever.

Everything takes place from a third-person viewpoint so you get to see the cow you created (from limited choices at the game's start point) as it runs around on its hind legs squirting milk from its udders whenever possible (yes, even the male cows, for some unusual reason!). Running, however, is limited to short bursts, so it should be used in a timely manner...not that you are ever in any great danger or anything, though. In what seems like a throwback to Animal Crossing, you will be able to earn your own money, make new friends around town and even decorate your own barn! This latter aspect is particularly amusing since you can actually turn it into whatever you feel like thanks to the wide range of strange accessories and furniture you can adorn the place with.

The actual farm area opens up wider the longer you play and after you complete more and more tasks. Other than small search and rescue missions, you can always take part in crazy racing sections (avoiding the police so they cannot see that you are indeed a cow...driving a car...) or even have some fun at the expense of others around you, playing naughty tricks on them (some of which can be fairly amusing, in all honesty). Thankfully you do not have to wander around aimlessly trying to find the appropriate people with tasks as there is a handy map that puts a marker on the ones currently available to you.

And also quite handily, you will not have to traipse across the entire map on foot (a LONG process, I assure you), since motorbikes can be used as a means of transport, making life far less frustrating. In terms of how long this game will last – well, despite being nothing more than a through-away game, there are indeed stacks of mini-game and various other extras to get your hands on – racing, golf, darts and other sporting attractions make up the numbers and probably ensure that younger gamers will definitely be happy and feel like they are getting great value for (their parents’) money. Everyone else will be quickly turning off in boredom…