Scaler, also known as Scaler: The Shapeshifting Chameleon, is a video game released in 2004 by Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...

 and Global Star Software for the GameCube

Nintendo GameCube

The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...

, Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

, and PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 video game consoles.

Synopsis

Scaler follows the story of a 12-year-old boy named Bobby Jenkins who stumbles across the evil plot of his next door neighbor to dominate the world through use of mutated lizards. His neighbor, Bootcamp, captures and restrains Bobby, striking him with a bolt of energy that transforms him into a shape-shifting alter-ego, Scaler—a vivid blue and yellow mutant lizard with razor sharp claws, a long tongue, and the ability to shift into several other kinds of lizards.

Unbeknown to Scaler, Bootcamps leader, Looger controls a network of unstable portals that are the only connections between the different dimensions in the multiverse

Multiverse

The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...

. Any being in control of these portals would have the ability to move freely between the different worlds, and even capture them. Looger has managed to accomplish this through the use of a device created by a scientist named Leon, who was consequently exiled through a portal to a desolate world. With the portal being his only escape route, Bobby "Scaler" Jenkins escapes from Looger through the portal and must now travel the strange world he arrives upon in his new form in order to find and defeat Looger or all of the universes will go into darkness.

Gameplay

The main attraction of Scaler is the ability to transform into five different types of mutant lizards, each one giving some sort of advantage depending on the environment. As the character journeys to different areas of the world, he will occasionally be given a challenge to defeat a number of special foes, thus giving the ability to transform into them and use their unique abilities to his advantage. Each area he journeys to allows him to transform into only one of this five forms.

Reception

After its release in 2004, Scaler received mostly positive reviews. While receiving praise for its high production values and gameplay, some reviewers criticized it for having an unexciting plot and formulaic design. It currently bears a composite critic score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

.