Nerd Mentality

DS REVIEW – The Clique: Diss and Make Up

Posted September 4th 2009 by Daisy Garcia.

I've been out of junior high school for quite some time, and as I repress this horrible realization of my aging, another realization takes prominence: the world of teenage girls has remained startlingly the same.  Junior high girls are vicious and always have been.  At least, they were when I was there.  I'm not saying I'm entirely innocent in this – if  Regina George had been able to travel back in time and break the laws of reproductive science to have a child with Heather Chandler, well... hmm.  Let's just say that despite my ever-so-sweet demeanor these days, I bring a measure of personal experience to a game like The Clique: Diss and Make Up. 

Its Bratz like characterization of middle school girls is somewhat trite, but considering that the game is based on a series of books aimed at 9-12 year old girls, I could see why they chose such looks. When I first spoke with one of its producers, Justin Woods, back at E3, I was told that when he was assigned to the game, he had to read through the series of books to really get the characterizations down pat, and ended up finding them quite enjoyable. While that may not be surprising to the plethora of young female fans of the five year old series of novellas, it did come as a shock to hear this 20-something male speak positively about entering the (sometimes dreaded) realm of pre-teen girldom. When I found a copy of it in my inbox, I was giddy and groaning at the same time. I've done my best to navigate the minefield of media that sells girls like my daughter a shallow vision of what life has in store for them, pushing American Girl rather than Barbie, Junie B. Jones books instead of Hannah Montana's TV show.  But here I would be playing a game that, at first glance, exemplifies everything that is wrong with how girls think they should behave. I didn't know what I was getting into.

Since I am not a fan of the book series, I cannot honestly say whether or not this game stays faithful to its literary roots. I can say, however, that it at least appears to encompass the gist of what the books are all about, at least from the brief synopses I've read. Start with a new girl who transfers in to school and has yet to fit in, throw in a few love triangles, and bam! Storyline central. The game then follows your adventure in being fresh meat at a school of piranhas. You start by choosing from a handful of newbie possibilities: the African American, the Caucasian, the Asian, the vaguely Middle-Eastern/South Asian, the brunette/possibly Hispanic girl. Once you pick your girl, you get to name her and life as you know it changes. You're given some directions as to game play mechanics, mostly involving tapping with your stylus.

Once directions are given as to how to negotiate the text – a huge part of the game – the story begins. Not only are you a transferee in a new town, but you don't even have your parents to ignore! They are gone on a business trip for a few months, leaving your pre-teen bottom to be raised by the housekeeper, Mrs. Lambert. So of course there is some animosity towards the 'rents, but nothing that can be done about it. This is a rather popular device used by many storytellers to put parents on a bus to avoid any nosying in to keep the focus on the main character. On the bright side, your father did go out of his way to ensure that if you needed spending money while they were gone, you could pick and choose from a multitude of jobs at the local mall. What a sweetheart. I'm not sure how many malls would employ a 12 year old girl with no experience in anything (or a work permit for that matter), but if your parents can afford a sitter 24/7 whose entire existence is to be at the beckon call of a private school middle-schooler whilst they traipse across the ocean, then some strings might have been pulled. I'm just saying.

Your character is to start at Octavian Country Day School, (a tongue in cheek nod to the disturbing psychological issues of the actual O.C.), an all-girls prep school filled with the cliques that exist in every realm of female existence. Only not the outcasts or the ugly ones, because everyone at OCD is at least pretty and popular in some way. Your duty as the new girl in school is to infiltrate each clique to social climb your way to the top, since that is the goal of every girl. In between running errands for various members of each clique, (which you do so unquestioningly, to garner an invitation to the next party – the ULTIMATE in acceptance), you do have to attend class. But not to worry, as you pick your own schedule week to week and only have five classes to choose from anyway.

When you get to school on Monday morning, you set your schedule by sliding in your student ID into the kiosk in the main hall. There you can pick and choose what you want to learn that day – at least you can choose from two classes daily. I'm pretty sure that I had more than 10 classes per week as a middle schooler, but times have changed. Your choices are Chemistry, Geometry, Home Economics, Art, and P.E. When you go to your classes (after you've gotten in your required daily dose of gossip and basically begged to be anyone's friend) you actually get to play some mini games based on levels 6th, 7th, or 8th (representations of the grade levels of the school). Complete the task, get graded, go to lunch. At lunch you don't actually eat, but you can hear some juicy gossip that you'll be able to spread to the next clique you really want to be in. Once lunch is over, you have to head to your next class, again do whatever task is asked of you, get graded, and then you are free for the rest of the day.

Once you are done with school, you have a few options: you can go home (which saves the game and skips to the next school day), you can go to the mall, or if you've successfully infiltrated a clique, you can go straight to the weekend party (in which case you don't have to attend classes the rest of the week). If you choose the mall for shopping (an absolutely must if you want to be anyone's friend) you have to work first, so that you can get those Benjamins to afford all the right clothes. You head over to the mall and can choose from a few various jobs. You can be a barista in a coffee shop, you can work at the taco stand, you can work in the ice cream shop, or you can work at the clothing store you so desperately want to shop at. Each mini game results in making mad money in a fairly short amount of time, and once you have enough, you can then shop until your heart's content. You can only buy so much before there is nothing left to choose from (a fairly short supply) and then you can either head home or head to the party if you've nabbed your invite. As stated earlier, heading home simply saves your game and starts the day anew.

And let's not forget the boys! In between, social climbing, working, daily shopping trips, and classes, there are boys! I won't spoil the secret, but let's just say they play an integral part of the entire plot. I suppose that goes without saying with an all-girl school. Boys have to be thrown into the mix somewhere. Hardly any pre-teen girl's existence is complete without some sort of puppy love heartache and it's definitely not inescapable in video game form either.

The graphics and game play are not bad. This is a very text heavy game, but not to worry if you forget some errands or gossip, as it's all listed as notes on your cell. The sprites on the touch screen of the DS sometimes move a little stiltedly and while you can tap multiple times to make your character move faster to her destination, it still is a bit clunky and not really done as smoothly has it should for a game of 2009. The touch sensitivity is very good and works well with the mini games. The cut scenes are done well and could easily be seen as a cartoon version of the game/books.

If you consider the game's demographics (E10+) and the actual game play, Diss and Make Up is a good game and probably worth the $29.99 MSRP. The problem here is not the mechanics of the gam'e the real meat of the issue is that these types of "girl games" only perpetuate stereotypes and the never-ending cycle of not being good enough unless you're pretty, popular, and peppy. These storylines appear to guide young girls into a world that they should not be a part of at such a young age. While the game features a couple of nice, moral side characters (i.e. not nearly as "cool" as the in-crowd), none of main cast are characters that any child should aspire to be like. Until adults decide to stop playing into these negative ideals and creating a market of superficiality, girls are sure to fall to the lowest common denominator.

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Tags: the clique

Posted in: Reviews, Gaming

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