With the long-time-coming Chicken Run sequel imminent on Netflix, memories are stirring of the late 2000 PC, PSone, and Dreamcast tie-in for the original movie. Somehow, this plucky little game managed to break movie tie-in convention, being quite good. Not amazing, but the gaming press were surprisingly receptive at the time.
Published by Eidos, home of Tomb Raider and fresh from the surprise success of the chart topping Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Chicken Run made its debut just before Christmas 2000. UK based Blitz Games handled development, best known at the time for the N64’s Glover. With the movie having a distinctly British feel, it did seem appropriate for a UK studio to take the helm. Let’s not forget it’s also the home of the much-loved Aardman Animations.
Chicken Run took the form not of a 3D platformer with countless spinning collectables to find, but rather a simplified stealth adventure. Imagine Metal Gear Solid for a younger crowd – only without the political ideology. Ginger and Rocky – the latter star no longer voiced by Mel Gibson, sadly – were tasked with sneaking around Mr. Tweedy’s farm, chicken coup, and factory to find items that’ll help them carry out their birdbrained escape plan.
In typical stealth game fashion, this entailed shimmying along walls, sneaking around Mr. Tweedy and his cold-hearted wife, and avoiding searchlights. All while learning the patrol routes of guard dogs. Egg catching mini-games were also added to induce variety, while ‘best times’ for each stage helped with replay value. Outside of this, there wasn’t much of a reason to return – with the brevity of the experience arguably being its biggest downfall.
While the visuals fell short of recreating clay-like textures, they were more than reasonable for the time, and the fact that it mostly took place at night made for a curiously atmospheric experience – one bolstered by the tenseness of the stealth action. Benjamin Whitrow and Lynn Ferguson reprised their roles as Fowler and Mac, helping the cut-scenes ape their silver screen counterpart.
When it came to reviews, it had a pretty good ‘run’ – with the PSone version averaging a respectable 75% on Metacritic, and the visually enhanced Dreamcast version at a not-far-off 68%. We have vague memories of reviewing the Dreamcast version and finding it enjoyable, but whatever we wrote about it back then has sadly been lost to time. The same goes for the reviews quoted below.
IGN doled out a 70% review score, suggesting that if they had lifted even more ideas from Metal Gear Solid, it may have been even better still. Mr. Tweedy examining your memory card for more Eidos game saves? Imagine that.
Eurogamer meanwhile opted for a 6/10. “[…] those of us with a little childhood innocence about us will find the charm of the game outweighing its shortcomings for the few hours it lasts. Nothing demanding, something perhaps to ponder over for the time it takes the Christmas turkey to go down, certainly something to occupy the kids for the snooze that comes afterwards.”
Long running site PSX Extreme even suggested that it might end up becoming the last great PSone game, praising the voice acting in particular.
A Game Boy Color tie-in, published by THQ, was also released. This took the form of an isometric puzzle adventure, featuring a colour scheme mostly consisting of blue hues to replicate the nighttime setting. Reviews of this version are harder to come by, but it appears to be competent.
Does it come as a surprise to find that Chicken Run was well above average? If you examine the plot and tone of the film, perhaps not. Whereas developers had to put their thinking caps on when it came to Wallace and Gromit adaptations, Chicken Run was far more grounded, essentially being a parody of The Great Escape. The premise of trying to escape imprisonment made for a very clear objective, while the need to follow the film’s storyline made for an experience that was well-paced. Further, by borrowing Metal Gear Solid’s stealth mechanics and camera system, it’s not that much of a surprise that it turned out as well as it did.
I don’t think we can call it the PSone’s last great movie tie-in, though – a little something known as Harry Potter made its PSone debut the following year.
Images and review quotes via Moby Games.