First Impressions:

The words of death: Licensed Title.  What's worse, a licensed title set to coincide with the publication of the source material.  One can only hope that each licensed game will break the rules like classics such as Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 and The Return of the King for the current-gen systems did.  It only takes a few minutes to realize that trusting to hope was a lost cause with Flushed Away; now the only thing to hope for is that the developers fix the many, many problems in this game before it hits shelves.

Graphics:

“Nothing spectacular” is an understatement.  Gamers that were awed by what God of War did with the Playstation 2's aging hardware will probably laugh at this game's visuals.  While there seems to be some level of detail given to the characters and certain elements of the level design, bad lightning plus a bad color scheme always equals a negative gaming experience.  To the developer's credit, they do show some imagination and whimsy, but there's not enough saving graces here to excuse the faults. 

Sound/Music:

How's this for a dichotomy: during the opening menu and game play, a cutesy, cartoonish kind of synth-pop plays that platforming fans will recognize.  But if you pause the game or during the game play segments where you control the Jammy Dodger (a boat that cruises the sewers) a classic rock/metal riff plays.  This will annoy music enthusiasts.  Not to mention the fact that technically every enemy speaks dialogue, meaning they recycle the same two or three lines for each enemy type, all in annoying and stereotypical accents.  Gamers with children will recognize the actor who voices Elmo on Sesame Street by the way, or at least a really good imitator.

Gameplay:

You've played this game a hundred times.  There are two main characters, one that offers up action/puzzle game play and one that uses stealth and trickery.  There are also some vehicle segments.  Nothing works.  Not only does the game forgo any kind of tutorial (meaning that your initial experience will consist of trial-and-error “What's this button do?” kind of techniques) and the gamer is clueless as to exactly how to play, but the game engine is entirely user unfriendly.  The gamer has no choice but to feel clueless to begin with; the awkward physics that have you over-shooting your jumps and swinging your weapons at the air don't help.  While thankfully a checkpoint system is in effect, it doesn't help when you're making the same mistakes over and over again and the game is no help.  What's worse, the stealth missions are highly illogical.  In good stealth games such as the Metal Gear or Splinter Cell series, the enemies move in patterns and the level design offers places for the player-character to hide; not so here.  The vehicle segments offer some tutorial, but your boat handles like a drunken beagle.  It bands against the obstacles and is slower than the murky water that it moves through.  The developers try to be innovative by throwing in button-tapping mini-games much like God of War; pressing the action button triggers certain events, and you must rapidly press the displayed buttons in sequence to do things such as open doors or pull trash out of the sewer with your ship's crane.  Unfortunately, this aspect is so sloppily put together and so easy to do that there is no challenge or feeling of empowerment like in the game that inspired it.  The combat is repetitive, with no reason to use different attacks because the same three-hit combo will dispatch any enemy without effort.  In short, there are no redeeming qualities to this game's mindless, soulless, and uninspired game play.

Enjoyment:

Too boring for adults, too plain for kids, and too frustrating for everybody.

Multiplayer:

You can play the mini-games offered with a friend, but don't look for this game to replace Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Overall Impression:

Flushed Away is a promo tool for Dreamworks' new movie of the same title and little more.  While it does offer a budget price ($29.95), gamers are encouraged to pick up older games that are even cheaper (excellent platformers such as the original Jak and Daxter and Maximo: Ghosts to Glory are now available as pre-owned titles for less than ten dollars each) if they're looking to squeeze some extra life from their soon-to-be-defunct Playstation 2 consoles.  If you already own all the classics, then replay them instead of buying this game; having Flushed Away on the same shelf as games such as those mentioned is bordering on gaming heresy.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

The one female character is like the others, an anthropomorphic mouse.  She is not scantily clad (seeing that this game is based on a family film, it would be a touch disturbing if she was) and is quite able of handling herself.  If anything positive can be gleamed from this title, it's that it does not exhibit sexist attitudes or display stereotypes; likewise, it offers nothing of particular interest to female gamers.  Gamers with kids (moms and dads alike) might think this is a good game for their children to play, but steer clear; you want your kids playing good games that are kid-friendly.