Taz: Wanted
Taz: Wanted, développé par Blitz Games avec le moteur BlitzTech et édité par Infogrames et WB Games, est un jeu d'action-aventure mêlant aventure et plateforme sorti le 17 septembre 2002 sur PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox et Nintendo GameCube. Mettant en scène le Diable de Tasmanie issu des Looney Tunes, le titre propose quinze niveaux au cours desquels le joueur détruit des affiches « Wanted » pour se venger de Yosemite Sam. L'intrigue débute alors que Taz et She-Devil, capturés par Sam et enfermés dans le zoo de Yosemite, tentent de s'échapper, Tweety Bird venant prêter main-forte à Taz pour retrouver sa compagne. Le jeu a par ailleurs été nommé aux BAFTA 2002 dans la catégorie « Best Children's Entertainment ».
L'accueil critique a été globalement favorable, la presse saluant notamment la qualité du rendu visuel : Play Magazine y voyait « easily the best WB-based game to come down the pike yet », tandis qu'Xbox Nation Magazine louait un titre « gorgeously cel shaded, sharp, and smart » mais jugeait sa difficulté trop élevée pour le public visé. Certains joueurs, à l'image de contributions sur Metacritic, évoquent un classique de leur enfance au cel-shading parfait pour l'univers Looney Tunes, tout en regrettant par moments la qualité des voix. L'ensemble affiche une note agrégée de 83,37.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« This is easily the best WB-based game to come down the pike yet. [Sept 2002, p.69] »
« Gorgeously cel shaded, sharp, and smart, but ultimately too difficult for the game's intended audience and certainly a little too generous in its repetition of sound samples. [Fall 2002, p.121] »
« There are definitely flaws, but nothing that brings the game to a screeching halt. »
« The mish-mash effect of the occasional gems of hidden gameplay in between long lengths of average play, which is then poorly complemented by less than stellar graphics and weaker than desired voice samples and sound effects, creates a disturbing out of kilter feeling. »
« Cel-shading is average, voice acting is nothing more then decent, but the lack of save points and frustrating, repeated gameplay spoils it all. »
« Exploration is usually a big part of the enjoyment of games like this, and unfortunately, you never get the sense that you can do this here. [Oct 2002, p.112] »
« Taz has no butt stomp or double jump maneuvers, the latter of which would've come in very handy for the game's prevalent platform jumping. »
« It’s supposed to be a cartoon and it definitely looks like one but however you look at it there aren’t many polygons in any given level – so why on earth is the frame rate so choppy? »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Childhood classic for me that I look back with happy memories its fun but i can not nostalgia reason it enough to be above this score. »
« Taz wanted is amazing the cel shading is perfect for loony tunes the levels are huge and the soundtrack is amazing and the boss fights are cool but the voice acting is compressed »
« When I first got my original Xbox this was one of the first games I ever got. And as a ten year old boy who loved the character I was very happy when I played it, I think its a fine platformer for kids only. Playing it again when I was older made me realize that the game is far to easy once you have grown up a bit, the story is pretty much worthless (stereotypical save the princess) and there are only a handful of enemy types. Not a terrible game, but the older audience will get bored pretty quickly. »
