One of the toughest things about making a 2D platformer must simply be making it stand out amongst the thousands of others. The Cub, from Golf Club Wasteland team Demagog Studio, at least gives itself a leg up in that regard, then, with stylised visuals, a moody soundtrack, and a persistent radio show that plays over the whole game. It's a good look overall, but unfortunately, the platforming can't match it.
Unlike the putting puzzles of the developer's previous title, The Cub is a one-hit-one-kill platformer with little to call its own. You'll go through the routine of jumping, sliding, moving objects, and handling a few stealth sections for less than three hours. While the game markets itself as being challenging, checkpoints are generally very forgiving so you never lose more than a few seconds of progress — save for a few set pieces that put you back at the start.
What actually proves frustrating is some really messy and confusing signposting that makes spotting exit points a lot harder than it should be. Especially in the early game, there are a few areas where it's very difficult to tell where you actually need to go to progress. You're always side-scrolling right, but where on the y-axis that exit route actually is can be tough to spot.
It's the overall visual and auditory design of The Cub that saves it from complete mediocrity, though. The main character spends much of the game with a helmet on its head that receives a radio station playing social commentary and music. The cool thing is you'll actually lose signal as you head underground into caves, making what's said over the airwaves once you come out the other side more intriguing. With the unorthodox soundtrack and stylised scenes to boot, the game gets by on its looks and sounds rather than feel.
It makes for an experience maybe just half a step above average. You have played many games just like The Cub before, but you've never played one that looks or sounds like it.
Comments 6
How is "less than 3 hours long" a con? Limbo and INSIDE are both less than 3 hours, and those games are basically perfect. I'm not saying this game is perfect, but I'm getting pretty tired of the only games that get 9/10 or 10/10 on this website, i.e. 20+ hour long third-person action games.
I really liked Golf Club Wasteland, so I'll give this a try.
@B_Lindz Think I must have used twice that long to beat Inside, but then I usually play pretty slow with lots of exploring/enjoying the scenery.
Agreed on the short games though. Love a short palate cleanser after some long 100+ hour RPG grind.
Article Title - “Short Platformer Oozes Style”
Oh it must be good then…
6/10 Not Bad 🤦🏻♂️
@B_Lindz
Length means nothing anymore.
By that metric every drawn out, milked out, wasting your time on purpose Ubisoft games are masterpieces.
These days I actually prefer games to be short and powerful. Limbo and Inside are perfect examples
Having played the demo on steam I'd say the score is fair tbh, took it off my wishlist. Stick it to the stickman demo (on steam again) on the other hand was so addictive and fun.
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