The typical video game player might quickly dismiss ABC's hit TV show Desperate Housewives as nothing special, but the show's composition of wit, humor, and intrigue has made it a huge success, a meticulously crafted guilty pleasure. Besides, the show has a great hook: It's narrated by a woman who mysteriously, tragically died in a pristine, seemingly perfect suburban community. This dark edge permeates a mostly light and upbeat show, and it's also integral to the computer game adaptation. Desperate Housewives: The Game looks like a Sims clone, but it's really more of a point-and-click adventure game that tells an original story in the vein of something from a season of the TV show, complete with all the philandering, double-crossing, and skeletons in closets that define the series. There's very little in the way of challenging or exciting gameplay in here, but Desperate Housewives: The Game succeeds in capturing the spirit of the show. And in so doing, it delves into some subject matter that very few other games have dared to broach.
In the game, you play as a woman who has just moved into a nice two-story home on Wisteria Lane with her teenage son and successful doctor of a husband. So, rather than let you play as any of the stars of the show, the game instead lets you interact with them in different ways by role-playing as a character you create. Initially, you'll get to meet and greet with the other wives on the block, who demonstrate their personality quirks a little too forcefully here compared with the show, partly due to the sound-alike's who provide their voices. For example, Lynette Scavo always sounds frazzled and exhausted here, since she's trying to raise three kids while holding a steady job; and the pretty Susan Mayer is constantly insecure. Nevertheless, fans of the show will find both the likenesses and the dialogue of these characters to be fairly close approximations of their selves from the show.
