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After completing Brian’s mission and switching back to Stewie for a little while, you finally get to play as Peter himself. Peter has been hit in the head with his PTV satellite dish after it falls off the roof, and after being knocked unconscious and waking up in the hospital, he has a crazy notion that Mr. Belvedere (as in Lynn Belvedere, the butler from the 80’s sitcom Mr. Belvedere) has kidnapped his family. Unlike the stealth of Brian’s missions or the platforming elements of Stewie’s, Peter’s missions are all about kicking ass, pure and simple. Everyone is your enemy, be it old ladies, dogs, or even children. No one is too old or too small for your fury. Peter believes everyone to be working for Mr. Belvedere, so ask yourself, how far would you go to save your family? Would you drop a bunch of children into a pit of hungry snakes so you can use their skeletons as a bridge to cross safely to the other side? Peter would, and eventually, you will too.

Anyone who is into basic beat-em-ups, and still enjoys arcade games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Captain America and the Avengers, can appreciate the old school simplicity of Peter’s adventure. You have a few different attacks, fight swarms of enemies, pick up objects and use them as weapons, gain power-ups to unleash special attacks, and even have a big green arrow telling you to “Go” to the next screen once you have defeated all of the necessary enemies. Feel nostalgic yet? If you are not into beat-em-ups at all and find them to become quickly repetitive, then playing as Peter will bore you in no time. If you can appreciate the basic gameplay and used to spend dozens of quarters a day at your local arcade or laundry mat on these types of games, then you will probably enjoy playing as Peter quite a bit, even if it just to remind you of the “good ‘ole days“.

This old man is going down...

Just like with the other characters, the first level for Peter basically shows you what you will be doing throughout the entire game, over and over and over. After taking out your first few “enemies” (old ladies and children) you will notice they drop food (along with the occasional health kit). You may also notice that when you continue to pick up this food, it fills up a little meter placed under your health bar. This is your Snack Meter. When this meter is full enough, you are able to unleash special attacks upon your enemies, dealing far more damage than any normal attack can. As you progress through the game, your Snack Meter increases in size, allowing you to gather more food and utilize your special attacks more often, and trust me, they become vital in the later levels. It is also wise to destroy anything and everything possible in the environments, as they too will drop food or health kits.

Peter’s normal attacks consist of the usual punches and kicks, and you can also pull off basic combos when combining different moves. If you are near objects like trash cans or sign posts, you can pick them up and throw them at enemies. You can also pick up unconscious enemies and throw them too, which is something I highly recommend as it is the quickest and easiest way of dispatching multiple foes without draining your Snack Meter. Now unlike a lot of beat-em-ups, you are not able to just mash one button over and over and successfully complete the game. The game forces you to use all of the moves possible, as some enemies cannot be harmed by certain attacks. Some characters can only be hurt by punches, while others by kicks, and some of the more difficult characters can only be hurt by specific combos. You will know when a character is not taking damage as they flash blue when your attacks are ineffective. Regardless of who they are though, your special attacks will always inflict pain upon them. When you weaken the stronger characters to near-death, you have to play through a mini-game similar to those from God of War or Peter Jackson‘s King Kong, where you press the corresponding buttons on-screen to perform a final finishing move. One example is having to mash the X button repeatedly to raise an enemy into the air, and then pressing the B button to body slam them. In fact, you can tell Peter Jackson’s King Kong was an inspiration, as Peter thumps his chest and roars just like the giant ape himself the first time you do it.

Dispatching the police

When you reach the end of the beginning level, you will come across your first Non-Sequitur for Peter, which involves punching a giant tuna can open (your guess is as good as mine). After successful completion, you will be rewarded with hot dogs that fill up your Snack Meter. While completing Peter’s Non-Sequiturs are not as vital as it is for Brian, the extra food can help as the special attacks can really save your life when surrounded with tons of enemies.

Rufus Griffin taking down children

To help players cope with the repetitiveness of the levels, throughout the game Peter will continue to get hit on the head, causing him to take on various alter egos seen on the show. While the gameplay concepts are the same, Peter’s lines and even attacks will change based on the character he transforms into. So anyone who enjoyed Peter’s jive talkin’ black cousin Rufus Griffin or think Prostitute Peter is a funny concept, will probably enjoy these little transformations. They add more humor into the game, which is pretty important since it is the game’s driving force.