When I picked up Chicken Little: Ace in Action, I had a few ideas how a rated E game from Disney would play. Having never seen the movie, I suspected it would be a rehash of some plot line that was pretty much overlooked by most of the viewing audience. I was fully prepared to snooze through this game.

Until I blew up for the 14th time.

Disney’s Chicken Little: Ace in Action is a deceptively evil game, giving you a false sense of confidence as the introductory scene opens. Captain Ace Chicken and his crew are a tight-knit group of ‘devil may care’ heroes that save the galaxy… etc. etc. The twist is that you (the player) are with Chicken Little and his friends playing this game which is loosely based on the movie based on their lives. (With me so far?) You play through the game as Ace, Abby or Runt and, with the help of Mr. Fish, save the world from the terrible Foxy Loxy and her gang of evildoers.

Your story begins at Pluto, where you start as Ace. Ace is the character you play for the first-person-shooter part of the game. You move Ace through the first stage/tutorial learning how he moves, fires, kicks and regenerates. See, in this game you don’t ‘die;’ you get an ‘emergency transport’ out of danger. Unfortunately, it beams you to the beginning of the section of the stage you beamed out of and resets the enemies. Hence the 14 explosions on my part.

The second character you’ll play is Abby, the pilot. From what I gather, the game Abby is very much unlike the cartoon Abby, as she’s very girly, with big hair and a secret crush on Ace. Her first stage introduces you to the flying part of the game. You have to navigate an asteroid field and use your special weapons to complete your mission and unlock your third character, Runt.

Runt is your tank driver. He’s also built like a tank. The tank driving portions of the game include blowing up big mechs, launching your tank off ramps and into walls, and saving the day, as most tanks do. As with other characters, your weapons and shields are upgradeable with the right amount of currency; in this case, Acornium.

Gameplay takes a bit getting used to. In every case, you use the analog sticks to navigate the level. I’m not a fan of FPS, so it would probably be easier for more seasoned players to move, shoot and avoid dying, but it took me the better part of an hour to move and shoot at the same time. As for flying, this is nothing like most “flying” games. Up is not down and down is not up. Up is point up, and L1 is up. Again, after playing other flying games, this took a lot of getting used to. As for the tank driving, that had an easier learning curve. You use the shoulder buttons to fire most of the time. The shoulder buttons are also used to steer as well as move up and down

Graphics and sound are pretty darned good. The characters look like they walked off a Disney reference sheet, and the backgrounds could double in any space cartoon. The visual effects are great, from the billowing smoke and flames to the flying helmets. The voice actors are first rate. The original actors reprise their roles, and are joined by Adam West who voices Ace, much to my surprise and delight (of course I’m an Adam West fan, so I may be a bit biased). Music is top notch as usual, and the option to turn it down or off is fabulous.

The one thing I love most about this game is that it really doesn’t take itself too seriously. You’ll hear characters fight over “who’s got next” or how realistic the action is. They make snarky but true comments about the many plot clichés like the voluptuous big haired female always having a secret crush on the main toon and the cocky, confident lead character that’s oblivious to it. In-game, when Ace reset for the 13th time, Adam West growled in a very tired voice, “Let’s try that again, shall we?” I think I blew up that time while I was giggling.

Replay is another part of the game. Each level can be basically completed to advance, but players also have the opportunity to replay levels for better times, better rewards, and more acornium. I found it close to Lego Star Wars, since I would replay the levels after upgrading my stuff so I could get better stuff.

The game also has a 2-player mode, where players go head-to-head in arena-like areas, blowing up tanks, mechs, refrigerators… at least I think it was a refrigerator. It really doesn’t impact the story, but it’s a great way to get your aggressions out without the pricey therapist’s bills.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. It took some time to get used to, but I found myself blowing things up, waiting for the next snide comment. There were times I took Ace and strafed rooms, blowing up anything and everything I could, just to see what else there was. It’s rated E for everyone, so you know it is safe for kids or conservative adults to play, but don’t let the rating fool you. This is an evilly fun game.

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