Summary

• PAW Patrol World offers a completely open-world gameplay experience, providing young children with a safe opportunity to experience freedom in gaming.
• The game includes an expansive map that feels large and worthy of exploration, with various areas and dog biscuits to lead players to unexplored corners.
• The addition of side quests and optional tasks allows young players to develop their own play style, with customization options as rewards for completing objectives. However, the graphics are disappointing and the overall gameplay is simple and repetitive.

PAW Patrol World is the newest installment in the lineup of PAW Patrol games by developer 3D Clouds and Publisher Outright Games. Despite games for this franchise released before, PAW Patrol World brings something entirely new to the table with a completely open-world gameplay experience that could give young children their first, safe, opportunity to experience that level of freedom in gaming.

Aside from the new gameplay style, PAW Patrol World is not too dissimilar in actual content from that of previous games, or even the movie being released alongside it, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Ryder and the pups are tasked with completing an overall story objective for the town, while also helping out several civilians along the way and saving the day. Though it’s not particularly original, it is faithful to what would be expected from the franchise.

A Rough Start

Though kids will likely be eager to open up the game and play as their favorite pup, this is one area where it seems that PAW Patrol World could’ve held out a little. Right from the tutorial, players will have access to every single pup available, including their vehicles. Though this seems fair for a children’s game, it also takes away what could be an exciting task which is unlocking new characters. There are 8 different pups to select from and not only is this overwhelming, but it takes the opportunity for more fun away.

Additionally, players are abruptly introduced to the game’s mechanics right from the start. Unfortunately, those mechanics don’t get any more elaborate than that for pretty much the entire game, with a majority of tasks only requiring the pressing of two buttons. Being that this is meant for young preschool children, it’s understandable that controls will be simplified, but there was no variety at all and no slow increase in difficulty to any degree. Once initial controls were mastered, the game became pretty repetitive from there on out.

Gameplay Needs Some Refining

On that same note, there were things in PAW Patrol World that just seemed pointlessly confusing. Part of the objective of the game includes collecting each of the pup's badges while exploring the world. Each one is typically hidden and requires completing some small task, in combination with exploring, in an effort to reach it. That’s not a bad idea in general as it encourages exploration to collect them all since they’re typically off the beaten path. However, the pup that is typically needed to reach the badge is usually not the same pup as the badge that is found.

For example, one of the pups has a vehicle that allows players to cross a body of water where they will find a badge, but the badge they find is for an entirely different pup and unless players are on the correct one, the badge will be greyed out, as if it cannot be collected. It can often be hard to tell what the badge is since it is so transparent, too, so it can be a brief frustration.

PAW Patrol World also allows players to engage in a multiplayer option from the start. Though this could be a fun addition, especially for parents looking to play with their children, it never feels necessary or like it adds anything. While most multiplayer games can be played solo as well, there are usually still points where it’s very clear that having a co-player would be better than dealing with the game’s AI. That never really occurs here, so it's entirely extra with no benefit.

A Surprisingly Large Open-World

Since one of the major selling points for this game is its ability to introduce preschool-age kids to the trend of open-world gaming, the map and freedom are expected to be one of PAW Patrol World's most impressive factors. Going in, one may expect a very small map with just the feeling of an open world, but PAW Patrol World does a great job of creating a small-scale world that feels expansive. There are several areas to explore as the game progresses and the map genuinely does feel pretty large and worthy of exploring.

As for detail, there is not a ton of intricate design in each area of the map, but children are likely to recognize various areas while exploring as their favorite PAW Patrol pup. There are also dog biscuits scattered all over the map that will lead players around to all corners of it and help them determine areas they have yet to explore. Additionally, while exploring, there will be various areas that are highlighted with a specific pup’s icon, indicating there is something to interact with there, after switching to that dog.

Helping Kids Find Their Play Style

Not only is the world itself impressive, but the addition of an open-world gameplay style allows for something else not found often in preschool-age games - side quests. While wandering the map, players have the option of interacting with civilians who hold optional side quests for them, typically indicated by an exclamation point icon above their heads. This is a great addition that could’ve easily been overlooked but allows a younger audience to start developing a play style that feels satisfying to them, whether they’re on the road to being a future completionist or simply just there for the story.

Unfortunately, the side quests themselves are a little lackluster as they can typically be completed in a matter of a minute or two, since they’re typically a simple task that is usually within several feet of the civilian. Despite this, the overall concept of having optional tasks in a children’s game like this is not to be taken lightly. Also, even if side quests aren’t something of interest, there is another thing to encourage exploration and that is the aforementioned dog biscuits.

These dog biscuits are first and foremost clearly meant to serve as a bit of a guide while exploring, but they do actually offer a reward that will have players intentionally looking to track them down. At the top of the UI will be a meter that is repeatedly filled by collecting these biscuits. Once filled, the player will be rewarded with some sort of prize, which is most often an outfit customization for the pups or a sticker for their vehicles. Regardless of age, it’s safe to say that customization is a big deal for players and likely to keep them motivated to unlock every available option.

Graphics Leave Room For Improvement

Perhaps one of the biggest downfalls of PAW Patrol World is that its graphics leave much to be desired. While it’s not expected that something like this would have innovative or breath-taking graphics by any means, they were often so low quality that characters almost just appeared blurry at times. This is made even more apparent when the chat bubbles appear and a crystal clear image of the same character is displayed side by side with its in-game counterpart. Alongside the stiff camera movements, it just created a lackluster visual experience. That being said, it's not so bad that it's completely unplayable by any means, just disappointing.

Final Thoughts & Rating

Overall, PAW Patrol World is a game designed for preschool-age children that appears to fully deliver on its promise of an expansive open world. Rather than be completely overwhelmed by some of the more advanced games like it, this serves well as a child's introduction to modern gaming trends. Additionally, the option of side missions to be discovered and completed as well as other unlockable content give young players the opportunity to truly begin discovering their play style. The music is fun and there are likely to be many points throughout the game that bring a smile to the face of any fan of the franchise.

However, it also leaves a lot to be desired in that its graphics are certainly not impressive by any means and its overall gameplay is incredibly simple and repetitive, even for its target audience. At times, many things feel confusingly implemented and the option for co-op feels a bit like an afterthought. With all that being said, it is still potentially worth giving a chance as there is a lot going on for PAW Patrol World that will help introduce young children to modern gaming in a way that not many other games like it can, however, anyone over the age of the target audience is likely to be unimpressed and quickly bored.

Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube

PAW Patrol World was released on September 29, 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a Switch code for the purpose of this review.