Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan Review

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger has undergone drastic changes since his first adventure, a standard jump-and-collect platformer. Ty 2: Bush Rescue, while still a long ways behind the competition, managed to bring Ty some much needed open and bigger gameplay. With that kind of chronology behind its belt, I was sure Krome Studios could whip out something truly special for the third in its Australian series. I was wrong and am sorry I even bothered.

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is no longer a platformer. The series began to shift in Ty 2: Bush Rescue, and Ty 3 takes the final plunge. There are very few platforming sections in this game, overshadowed by vehicular missions using the bunyip (mech suit) and gunyip (fighter plane). Given that, the majority of levels focus heavily on combat. Ty 3 introduces hand-to-hand combat, but the process of slicing an enemy up-close is long and boring. You can still throw boomerangs, but they only do damage to the basic Frills. Most of the enemies fall under the Quinkan category. The Quinkan aliens are the main threat this time, and the switch is for the worse. The Quinkan create a darker atmosphere, stripping the Ty franchise of its remaining charm and requiring a lot of tedious and unnecessary fighting. They really clutter the overworld, too. The overworld is traveled via some sort of crab vehicle, only allowing you to stop at certain points which lead into the actual missions. This is a lot like the highway in Ty 2, but this overworld is much more convoluted and confusing and is not structured in an easily memorized way. If I can say anything good about Ty 3–and it’s very difficult to do so–it’s that the variety creates a well-paced adventure– boring… but well-paced.

Krome Studios has had three tries now to create a decent camera, and they have failed every time. Nothing has been altered for Ty 3, and the nauseating and stubborn camerawork is getting ridiculously unbearable. The vehicles also feel sluggish and clunky, especially the included kart racing levels. It only takes two minutes to realize Ty 3′s racing is prehistoric at best. Ty 2 wasn’t any better, but karting wasn’t a necessary attribute back then. Here, the one-player mode requires a few races, and it’s super annoying. Boomerangs also don’t have any kind of lock-on mechanism or first-person view to make throwing easier, and the new hand-to-hand fighting is limited and restrictive and… boring. That word keeps popping up, doesn’t it.

Ty 3, much like its predecessor, is a seven-hour experience once through. As is tradition in the Ty universe, there are a whole bunch of goodies to collect. Why you need to collect these remains a mystery, however. There doesn’t seem to be any incentive to find everything. The collectable artwork is the only thing I’ve noticed that does something– shows you artwork. Yipee. Out of the box, Ty 3 also offers a two-player kart racer and gunyip battle mode. The terrible controls make it really hard to enjoy, however. They should have just left this out.

The graphics in Ty 3 aren’t much different than Ty 2. The worlds are still large and full of lush–if just a tad drab–scenery. I haven’t noticed any framerate issues, though, even with 10-15 enemies on screen at once. Load times abound but are covered up by doors that take a minute to open. This was fine in Ty 2; the door actually looked like it was loading, and there were opals to collect while you waited. In Ty 3, there’s really no indication that things are working behind that door, and I occasionally felt like it wasn’t going to open at all. While riding around in the overworld, random “tips” will pop up to try and distract you while the game quickly renders what’s coming next.

I have come to expect great things from Ty’s soundtracks, and that may have something to do with my disappointment here. While Ty 3′s music remains fitting in its unique Australian presentation, there is very little memorable stuff. The traditional Outback songs are still fun, but in line with this game’s darker attitude comes a lot of the techno garbage that cropped up in Ty 2. The main cast’s voices still maintain the same charming quality, but supporting characters come across as weak readings.

Final Comments

After seeing the big steps made from Ty 1 to Ty 2, I was very expectant of this third chapter. What I found was something worse than the original game. All the charm is gone in favor of something more action-oriented, but the action is boring and problematic. I’ve stuck with Ty longer than I should have, and I’m ready to give up on the franchise entirely. If Krome Studios hopes to bring their beloved character back for a fourth outing, they should focus on and build after what made the first two games fun instead of chasing every other action/adventure platformer– and failing.