Escape from Bug Island

Nintendo exclusive

Bug Island is a island full of bugs and the perfect place for Michelle, who is majoring in insect physiology, to work on a report for school. Along come Mike, the typical confident college playboy and Ray, a freshman in college. Arriving on the island, Mike and Ray fight over Michelle who then runs off into the foggy distance and is nowhere to be found. Now Ray needs to find Michelle and get off the island in one piece.

Released: 2 December 2006
Platforms: Wii
Genres: Adventure Horror Indie Role-playing
Developers: Spike
Publishers: North America
Modes: Single-player
Themes: Action Horror Survival
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB M
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish

About

Escape from Bug Island, titled Necro-Nesia (ネクロネシア, Nekuroneshia) in Japan, is a 2006 survival horror video game developed by Spike and released for the Wii in 2006. It was later published on North America by Eidos Interactive, on July 24, 2007.

Keywords

action-adventure
giant insects
insect infestation

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls Ray, who is able to walk around, use his flashlight and interact with objects spread across the game. There are frequent battles with giant insects, such as mantisses and crickets. However, other kinds of creatures such as lizard-women and flying fish are also present.

The levels are mostly linear, and a minimap tells the player where their next destination is located. Along the way, the player is tasked with finding items (such as keys), opening doors and fighting bugs.

Story

The story starts when Ray, Mike and Michelle arrive at the mysterious Bug Island, a place with large insects, for a camping trip. The protagonist, Ray, plans to confess his love for the bug expert Michelle. However, before he gets a chance to, his friend Mike intervenes and flirts with her instead. As a result, Michelle runs off and Mike follows her, leaving Ray alone.

Eventually, since his friends won't return, Ray starts exploring the island by himself and searching for them.

Development

The game was released in 2007 under the title Escape from Bug Island and was published by Eidos Interactive. According to Nintendo Power, unfavorable reviews of Necro-Nesia prompted Eidos to refine several aspects of the game during localization, including control tweaks and end-of-level wrap-ups.

Reception

At E3, critical impressions of Escape from Bug Island (then Necro-Nesia) were mostly negative. According to IGN, the gameplay is “void of anything that may resemble fun”. Other criticisms included poor graphics, awkward controls (especially during fights), and choppy animation. com criticized the game's controls and concluded that "Bug Island fails and frustrates so thoroughly throughout its 10-plus-hour playtime that its greatest feat may be fooling someone into finishing it who isn't paid to do so.

It's easily the Wii's worst showing yet." Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, however, gave it an above-average score of one eight, two sevens, and one six for a total of 28 out of 40. Elsewhere, the game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.