Video Game / Open Season (Ubisoft)

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Open Season shows examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptational Context Change: It is eventually revealed that Elliot is just leading Boog in circles instead of taking him to Timberline, but the reason is different from the film. In the film, Elliot just straight-up lied to Boog about knowing the way back, thinking if he and Boog hung out for awhile then Boog would like him. Here, it is revealed that Elliot apparently asked some moles for directions to Timberline and was just too dumb to realize that moles are blind. As a result, Boog does not have a Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure with Elliot after the dam bursts and washes away everyone into the hunting grounds, and Boog marching off by himself to Shaw's cabin is changed to him waking up near the cabin following the flood.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Elliot leading Boog in circles instead of taking him to Timberline as Boog requested is changed to have Elliot come off as more sympathetic. While in the movie he just lied to Boog in the hopes that Boog would like him if they hung out for a while, the game changes it so he instead asked moles for directions and was simply too dumb to know that moles were blind. This change makes his character less self-centered, and more well-meaning (but stupid).
• Adaptation Expansion: The game expands on Boog helping the animals.
• Adapted Out:
  • The game has Boog and Elliot sent into the wild after being caught at the Puni Mart, leaving out the scene where Elliot disrupts Boog's show (forcing Beth to tranquilize them both).
  • Bob and Bobbie do not appear at any point in the game, despite their minor roles in the film. Mr. Weenie is largely absent from gameplay as well apart from the boxart, but his only appearance is a final cutscene that uses still frames from the scene where Boog defeats Shaw.
  • While many ducks are seen in the game, Serge's companion Deni is not one of them, apart from the boxart and the final cutscene.
  • While Giselle and Ian briefly appear in early levels before the hunters arrive, and one deer is used as a slingshot in another level to fight hunters, deer other than Elliot are far less important in the narrative, being largely absent from the conflict against the hunters (aside, once more, from still frames taken from Boog's battle with Shaw at the end of the film).
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: A handful of levels allow you to play as Elliot, who controls much differently from Boog. Boog is a Mighty Glacier who can attack hunters head-on but can't jump, whereas Elliot can jump but lacks any combat capabilities and has to lure hunters into traps. In addition, while Boog has to learn how to swim later in the game, Elliot can swim by default.
• But Thou Must!:
  • The game features various prompts where Boog can respond to other characters' questions by either nodding or shaking his head. However, to progress with the story, you inevitably have to nod and agree to do whatever they ask of you.
  • Boog has to choose between returning home or heading to the woods to help the animals fight off the hunters. He ends up in the woods no matter what, either by his own volition or because McSquizzy switched the signs around. Boog will always behave as if he chose to come back regardless of the final decision too.
• Canon Foreigner: An owl named Miss Feathers is featured in the game as a means to teach gameplay mechanics to Boog and Elliot.
• Cut and Paste Environments: Most of the levels that are visited by Boog when he decides to help defend the forest animals from the hunters reuse the same maps as areas he'd previously encountered certain animals in, despite the newer levels taking place on the hunting ground instead of above the falls as the older levels did.
• Dream Sequence: The first level takes place in a dream where Boog chases a gigantic Dinkelman (his bear plushie).
• Forced Tutorial: The level just after the dream level has a tutorial.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: At one point, Boog has to choose whether to return to Timberline or help the animals survive Open Season in the woods after escaping Shaw's cabin. He gets railroaded into choosing the latter option (if Boog chooses to go to the Woods, McSquizzy will state how proud he is of Boog, but if he chooses to go to Timberline, McSquizzy is revealed to have pointed the sign in the wrong direction).
• Funny Background Event: When Boog throws a rabbit onto a hunter's face, Boog will laugh at the hunter's misfortune. If he does this when other hunters are nearby, the other hunters actually laugh at their comrade being attacked.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: In the multiplayer mode, Boog, Elliot, and Beth can play minigames with Shaw, the Big Bad of the movie who tries to kill the former two multiple times.
• Gratuitous Spanish:
  • "C'mon, or it's adios los liberty, amigo!"
  • The skunks speak in Spanish as well as English.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Boog in the PSP version can use Elliot as a melee weapon! And he's no worse for wear every time he swings him like a bat.
• One-Hit Kill: The Ultimate Elliot ability, unlocked at the Wild Academy, allows Boog to instantly Scare (kill) a stunned Hunter by throwing Elliot at them.
• The Nose Knows: Boog can use his nose to sniff out berry bushes and mushroom badges.
• So Proud of You: If Boog chooses to return to the woods and help the animals, McSquizzy will praise him for doing so, stating that he's proud of Boog for making the right choice.
• Sore Loser: One level sees Elliot have a race with Ian, and after Elliot wins, Ian claims that the sun was in his eyes and Elliot cheated somehow, leading Ian to angrily kick Elliot away.
• Took a Level in Badass: Over the course of the game, Boog gradually learns new abilities and becomes more wild as he gets used to life in the woods.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: Boog can pick up and throw Elliot all over the place, whether it's into walls, getting him stuck in rabbit holes, or even flinging him off a nearby cliff.