Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 19/Sep 04:52

Above Snakes – Review

If we had a nickel for every cosy Wild West-themed video game we reviewed this year, we’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Yes, just a couple of months after we built our very own ranch on the American Frontier in Cattle Country, we’re back on the prairie… only this time, there’s a supernatural twist! Does Above Snakes deserve a sheriff’s star or is our library not big enough for both cosy Western games? Story Set in an alternate version of the American Wild West, Above Snakes tells a story of cowboys and…. zombies? A brief opening cutscene first introduces us to Aiyana, a young woman with Native American roots, before showing a green meteorite crashing to earth near the appropriately named settlement of Corpse Creek, where Ayiana’s mother lives. The meteorite emits a strange aura that raises the dead, and zombies overrun the small Western town. This is all happening unbeknownst to Aiyana, who has taken up a travelling lifestyle. When news of the events in Corpse Creek eventually reaches her, Aiyana rushes to the town to find out if her mother is safe. Okay, that last sentence isn’t exactly how the game plays out. Despite the apocalyptic events that set up Above Snakes’ story, there is no sense of urgency in the game whatsoever. The premise of zombies in the Wild West feels wasted, as the gameplay puts an emphasis on construction and exploration, with light survival elements. The narrative is drip-fed to players, with elements like Aiyan’s family ties and the looming threat of supernatural corruption ending up shallow and underexplored. The story would’ve probably been better off if the zombie story had been kept for a different game. Instead, Above Snakes could’ve doubled down on focusing on its mechanics and delivered a straightforward tale about starting a new life on the American Frontier. Graphics The Wild West of Above Snakes is brought to life with clean, isometric visuals. The different environments are the star of the show here, with each of the tiles that make up Aiyana’s surroundings looking distinct, and easily identifiable at a glance. The overall aesthetic of Above Snakes is reminiscent of that of a board game, which ties into the game’s standout mechanic -more on that later. Characters, animals, and supernatural creatures stick to the same minimalistic design principles, creating a pleasingly cohesive look. Contrasting with this are the in-game portraits seen in dialogue and the full-screen images seen in story scenes. The former come across as having been AI-generated, with the results looking uncanny and soulless, whereas the latter are fuzzy and look like low-res images were blown up to fit the screen. Sound When it comes to sound design, Above Snakes is inconsistent. The game’s ambience, like the rustling of leaves and birdsong, is soothing and contributes to the atmosphere. The soundtrack sticks to a similar vibe, with soft background tunes. While the music is fitting enough for the game’s many quiet moments, more prominent tunes during dramatic scenes would’ve elevated the experience. Where Above Snakes drops the ball is when it comes to active sound effects. These are poorly balanced, with sounds like footsteps ending up being distractingly loud in Above Snakes’ overall soundscape. Gameplay As we mentioned earlier, Above Snakes’ core gameplay doesn’t fit with its overarching narrative. At heart, this is a survival/crafting game, where Aiyana gathers food, chops wood, hunts animals, crafts tools and weapons, and builds structures that she can use as shelters. The meat of the game is in its story campaign, which is broken up into bite-sized tasks to work towards. You’re never left to your own devices here, as Above Snakes will always tell you what to do or where to go next, whether that’s helping out NPCs or working towards a new tool. The game’s standout mechanic is in the way that you shape the world around you, using a modular tile placement system. Starting from a single tile, you gradually expand the world by “mapping” it out and placing new tiles after researching them. The caveat is that you can’t expand the world all willy-nilly. The edges of new tiles need to match preëxisting ones. As tile placement affects resource access and biome transitions, this mechanic feels like a puzzle that adds both replay value and unique charm to Above Snakes’ gameplay. Aside from literal world-building, Above Snakes follows the survival game formula to a tee. Aiyana starts out with limited resources, but she’s able to craft crude tools with these, which give her access to different and more advanced materials. By completing tasks, new blueprints are unlocked, giving her access to new tools and furniture at the game’s crafting table. Apart from this loop of crafting increasingly elaborate items, you’ll also need to keep an eye on Aiyana’s hunger, thirst and fatigue, but with raw materials aplenty, managing these stats is more like a small inconvenience instead of a real survival challenge. While Above Snakes’ core loop bears all of the hallmarks of a survival game, it’s by far the easiest and cosiest one we’ve ever played. The lack of challenge is also noticeable when it comes to how Above Snakes approaches combat. Combat does exist, but it’s remarkably underwhelming. The enemies that Aiyana encounters include the expected likes of wolves and outlaws, but also otherworldly creatures like zombies and living skeletons. Regardless of who she has to face, enemies are generally weak and easy to avoid. The game does incorporate a dodge mechanic, but dodging isn’t really necessary, and you can just take hits while swinging an axe. Shooting enemies with a bow is also possible, but the game’s targeting mechanics are clunky and frustrating. The game’s combat mechanics as a whole feel undercooked and tacked on. With a 15-ish hour long story campaign and a supplementary creative mode, Above Snakes does offer a lot of bang for your buck for its €5.99 price tag. Regardless of how cheap it is, however, your mileage may vary on whether or not it’s a worthy addition to your library. As a cosy take on the survival genre, it succeeds in what it sets out to do, offering a slow and relaxing experience. If developer Square Glade Games had doubled down on this approach and played to Above Snakes’ strengths, then this really could have been a fantastic little game. However, the lukewarm combat and forced narrative drag down the experience as a whole. Conclusion The biggest issue with Above Snakes is that it tries to mesh together two entirely different takes on the survival game genre, wanting to be both a cosy sim game and a horror game. It doesn’t fully succeed as either one, however. Gameplay-wise, it has a solid foundation as a cosy survival sim where you build a life in the frontier wilderness, and the unique tile-based world-building adds a unique twist. However, there is a disconnect between the slow-paced gameplay and the apocalyptic horror story and the undercooked combat mechanics feel tacked on. Add to this that the visual elements that are directly connected to the story are of distinctly lesser quality than the board-game-like aesthetic, and one can’t help but wonder whether the direction of the game was rapidly changed mid-development. Either way, the result is wildly inconsistent, and as a result, less strong as a whole.