There are two types of people in this world -- those who enjoy Family Guy and those who don't. Those who think that the show's use of random pop culture references are hilarious and those who..well...those who don't. These two very different groups may not agree on much, but neither will be able to take much of Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse, the new gaming adaptation of the popular show. With dated visuals, uninspired and nearly broken gameplay and a script that tries almost too hard to be funny, Road to the Multiverse is a terrible use of the license, and for a property that sells everything and anything with the characters faces on it -- that's saying something.

"...the characters look like rough sketches and animate like robots."

But it didn't have to be that way.

Back to the Multiverse starts off in a way that should be familiar to any fan of the show -- beginning with the show's trademark opening number and couch gag -- but it's obvious right from the beginning that something is most definitely not right. If you squint hard enough, Back to the Multiverse sounds and even looks like Family Guy, but upon further inspection (opening your eyes), the characters look like rough sketches and animate like robots. The game looks so dated that it's not unfair to think this is the same game that featured the Family Guy characters for the original X-box. The shows voice cast returns here, but they're mainly used to spit our random one liners that have no real context and that you're sure to grow tired of within minutes.

For what it's worth, the story of Back to the Multiverse is something fans of the show are really going to like. The game plays out almost as a sequel to the wildly popular “Road to the Multiverse” episode and finds Brian and Stewie chasing Bertrum through different dimensions. There's characters from the show and little references sprinkled in throughout, but unfortunately that's where the similarities end. Where the show mostly makes attempts to be clever with its humor, Back to the Multiverse reverts to insulting everyone and everything and hoping the shock value turns into laughter -- and it doesn't. The game ruthlessly goes after everyone from the disabled to anyone who isn't straight and it doesn't come off as humorous -- just cheap, hateful and embarrassing.

"...terrible controls, robotic animations and an infuriatingly bad campaign."

Gameplay wise Back to the Multiverse does almost nothing you wouldn't expect. Playing as either Stewie or Brian you'll run around the linear worlds and complete missions that other characters give you. This mostly turns into fetch quests and cheap timed missions and though you can switch between Brian and Stewie at any given time, it doesn't matter much as they play almost identically. The boring missions are made even worse by terrible controls, robotic animations and an infuriatingly bad campaign.

In recent years we've been rather lucky with the vast majority of our licensed games, but Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse feels like it gets rid of all of that with every poorly designed step. With games like Batman: Arkham City on the market, it becomes even more evidently clear how embarrassingly bad Stewie and Brian's latest adventure is. Even if you're a fan of the show -- avoid this game at all costs.