Console: Xbox 360 (XBLA)
Date Released: April 11, 2012
Date Reviewed: April 10, 2012
Reviewer: Reid
Pros
* Very unique game
* Controls not too complicated
* Great sound
Cons
* No multiplayer of any kind
* Levels fairly short
The Splatters is an Xbox Live Arcade title that focuses on the manipulation of physics in a puzzle-solving type of environment. Another main focus of the game is performing combos to rack up points and trying to beat the levels in style.
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
The Splatters has a great look and feel from the start. It has that new-old style of direction and is simple yet effective when presenting each level. The levels consist mostly of random things connected together to form a border and make an outline of the play area. This might be a shoe connected by metallic tubes or a soccer ball connected by branches.
The splatters characters themselves look great, and are well animated, especially when in motion or when exploding. They also have done a good job making them look like rubber containers filled with goo that makes bombs explode. Think about if your boss told you to animate that. Yeah I know.
The sound effects are fairly light in the game, but are appropriate. The music is done well, and does a good job keeping a fast pace feeling while you are playing. I did notice that some times the game had trouble deciding if you had enough ‘splatters’ to cover all the bombs, and wasnt sure if it should make you retry or wait and see what would happen. In those cases, the music just plain stops. It doesn’t take anything away from the game necessarily, but it does seem like a small glitch, something easily fixable.
Single Player : A
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
What? You can’t tell what this game is about just by cover art? It’s just the same old “Launch your body at spikes or slam it into piles of goo containing bombs and hope the guts that spill out of you make bombs explode while racking up combo points” game.
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve played anything like this, and it is still refreshing to see developers create unique games in a time when it feels like everything has been done.
The Splatters game is as simple as destroying piles of bombs with your exploded body. The fun of the game is manipulating physics to solve the different puzzle type of scenarios set up in each level. You launch your character and then tap a button and then are able to slow the game down and redirect yourself. Once you’ve done that, and have exploded, you can alter or redo (they call it flipping) the in-game time and let your splattered insides rain down on the bombs are affected by the flip.
If you are having trouble seeing the big picture, you can hit ‘Y’ and watch a video showing you paths to beating the level. The great thing about these videos is when they perform a move, the button pressed to perform this move pops up, which helps you understand and control the game greatly. This tool is very helpful early on to see exactly what the game wants you to do.
There is no dying, really in the game. When you get to the point that you run out of enough characters to use, or used all the characters and still have bombs left, the game simple says retry, rewinds in real-time, then lets you start playing again. It’s a really cool feature that keeps the flow of the game, and doesn’t give stupid “your dead” or “fail” screens and then makes you hit a button.
The game itself can be as long as you want to make it, as they want you to three star each level to fully complete the game. Though the levels themselves are short, you have 3 different categories to pick from . Become a Talent lets you actually play the game and through the levels. Combo Nation lets you build on that and asks you to perform various combos and tricks. Master Shots lets you perfect the placement and direction of your shots in levels and teaches you better control. The nice thing about these categories is they are not rehashed levels, and none give you that “been there played that” feeling.
Over all the game is not difficult, it just takes a while sometimes to figure out your best angles. Once you do, it is easy to progress.
Multiplayer : –
Game mechanics / features / Online features
No multiplayer, no split screen. While I seem to be playing a broken record here stating my displeasure with games that don’t at LEAST have split screen, It is hard for me to take seriously the title of “family puzzle” when I can’t play against someone online or in person. Especially in the ‘Combo Nation’ section, it would be awesome to compete for the best combo.
You can watch other people pull off sweet combos and check rankings, but that’s about all the multiplayer your going to get.
Replay Value : B
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
Though I personally am not a fan really of going back and “three staring” levels, or finding everything hidden in them, a lot of people are, and it does help the re-play value to let you go back and re-play the level while still trying to accomplish new things. With all the levels and combo variants it is pretty fun to go back and try different things.
The game is set up to accept DLC of more levels and challenges so there is a good chance more support will come out and extend the life of the game.
The Splatters is a fun game and deserves a chance, especially for all you puzzle fans out there. Though in my opinion no multiplayer modes to complete or simply let a second player in on the action hurts the game, there really isn’t anything to complain about. It’s simple to pick up, fun to play, and challenging enough to keep you interested, but not frustrate you. I can recommend this game, especially to any fans of the puzzle genre.
Overall : A
