Open Season (video game)

Boog (Chris Williams) is a 900-pound grizzly who is the star of the town Timberline's nature show. In a dream, Boog chases after a giant version of his teddy bear Dinkleman, but he is soon woken by Beth (Kari Wahlgren), who takes him to the town center for Boog's performance. But Beth finds that Shaw, a cruel hunter, has already hunted a buck. She goes into Sheriff Gordy's police office to confront Shaw. The buck (Matthew W. Taylor) wakes up and introduces himself, his name being Elliot. Boog reluctantly frees him, and Shaw (Darryl Kurylo) vows revenge on Boog after Sheriff Gordy (Carlos Alazraqui) tells him he's been living in the woods too long. That night, Elliot decides to "free" Boog in return. He manages to lure him to the convenience store, where they finish all the chocolate bars there, but they're discovered by the police and incapacitated with a tranquilizer gun by Beth and brought to the Timberline National Forest until the start of open season. There, Elliot claims that he knows how to get back to Timberline, prompting a road trip.

They encounter a squirrel called McSquizzy (Michael Gough) and his army of squirrels called the Furry Tail Clan (Carlos Alazraqui), who abuse them with nuts. Boog meets a few members of Elliot's herd: Giselle (Kari Wahlgren), a doe whom Elliot has a crush on, and Ian (Patrick Warburton), the head of the herd who hates Elliot. It's revealed that during this time of year, the Deer Games are held, with only one sport: Running. Elliot competes with Ian and wins the race, but he's kicked away by a jealous Ian as revenge. In the Timberline National Forest, Boog and Elliot help all kinds of animals with their tasks. The two meet McSquizzy again, who directs them to a shortcut: A mine. After riding through the mine in a minecart, Boog and Elliot continue their journey across a valley, and climb up a mountain, only to encounter Shaw, they escape the hunter by rolling down the hill in a big snow ball. They get to a beaver's dam, which Elliot claims is the way home. Not letting them cross, the two help the beavers find a missing piece for the dam: An outhouse. They find Boswell (Maurice LaMarche), trying to push the outhouse down from a hunting camp. Boog and Elliot jump onto it, and it quickly breaks and they ride it down the river rapids until they reach the dam. Boog quickly realizes that Elliot had never known how to go to Timberline because he'd asked some moles (since they're blind) for directions. Boog's weight causes the dam to break up. Having lost Elliot in the flood, Boog looks for shelter for the night. Boog enters Shaw's house, only to be confronted by Shaw himself. Shaw locks Boog in his basement but Boog eventually escapes, and encounters McSquizzy on a sign, who threatens to not show him the way back home if he doesn't help the animals during open season. Boog goes the right way, but he decides to go back and help the animals, suggesting to the wilds that they fight back.

Agreeing to this, Serge (Danny Mann), Deni, and the rest of the ducks fly around the Timberline National Forest, dropping propane tanks everywhere, while the other animals collect items helpful for the fight. The wilds ultimately win the battle against the hunters. But while they're celebrating, Shaw appears and tries to shoot Boog. Elliot sacrifices himself by jumping in front of Boog and takes the hit instead, seemingly killing him, which angers Boog. Boog defeats Shaw after throwing a skunk, a rabbit, and a squirrel at him, roars him, and then he ties Shaw up with his gun. The game then closes as Elliot awakens having survived the gunshot and the wilds celebrate their victory by mauling Shaw.

The game's genre is action-adventure. Players can play as Boog and Elliot who can do many actions, Boog can throw skunks through a hunter's chimney to scare them, or looking for berries to heal himself by smelling them. Elliot can jump, sneak past hunters and can lure them to a trap by taunting them. Many skills can be upgraded to 3rd level. Players can also decide what to do with the hunter: Sneak up and scare him or run up and throw him. In the game, the player must do many tasks for the forest animals, and when players do the max tasks for that species, they become their companions, and let players throw them at hunters as well. When players beat the game, they can play the mini-games they unlocked in single and multiplayer.

According to Metacritic, the game received “mixed or average” reviews on all platforms except the Wii version, which received "generally unfavorable" reviews.

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• Open Season at MobyGames
• Open Season at IMDb