Spewer Review

[Xephyr3]

Spewer



Developer: 2DArray & Edmund

Ratings:

Visuals: 4

Audio: 3.5

Content: 3.5

Gameplay: 3.5

Replayability: 4

Verdict: 3.5

Review:

From our humble beginnings as primitive beings driven by our senses and instincts, human beings have evolved thirsting for knowledge. Over the ages we have conquered the earth, the sea and the sky. We may even conquer the vast expanses of the final frontier, space eventually... Much of this is thanks to the countless experiments conducted by scientists. Spewer is a physics game played from the view point of the experiment. How many obstacles do we have to get through to escape? What does that ogling scientist want, a.k.a a young Dr Wily? And what kind of god forsaken research requires the snot of Satan, ok it’s kinda cute, to violently vomit AND ingest that same vomit again, ok Satan’s snot. The answers to these questions lie within the game... or do they?

So about that vomit, Spewer’s gameplay follows the basic jumper controls; move left, right, up and down, jump... etc. The only difference is that the game allows the player to vomit out the creature’s stomach contents to complete objectives e.g. jump higher or skinny dip. The controls are smooth, lacking any of the usual irritating slide delays in movement. I don’t know what the vomit is made of, but for a physics game that vomit sure is bouncy, almost like Flubber. The vomit can be used to enhance the creature’s jump or allow for the creature to swim through the vomit like a pool of liquid. The levels are diverse and provide enough of a challenge what with spikes, buttons and all that good stuff.

The graphics are very well made, the creator obviously put a lot of heart into making every level one big science experiment, somewhat reminding me of Megaman. The audio complements the graphic well, a good mix of fast beats and electronic music to really get the player pumping. Content wise, there isn’t anything particularly deep about this game, it’s just a jumper with an original concept. The creators clearly intended for the game to be quick and accessible for all, eliminating a need for a complex plot.

If there’s one complaint that I have with this game are its numerous bugs. Many players, including myself, have fallen prey to the dreaded spikes where coming even 1mm next to it seemingly at a snail’s pace will still kill me making the game extremely frustrating to play. Furthermore, the game is just sometimes plain impossible. Certain ledges seem unreachable no matter how you jump or position yourself. Overall, a great game with a nice concept but killed itself with the frustrating spikes and difficulty.