"SPOOKWARE" is a title I had been eyeing long before its release. Produced by BEESWAX GAMES and distributed by DreadXP, the game was promised to provide a fast-paced microgames-based gameplay with lots of humour and horror themes. The incredibly cute main characters only encouraged me to try it out.
So I did. And holy shit, it was a wild, wild ride!
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| There are spooks, there are wares, what else do I need? |
"SPOOKWARE" follows adventures of three skeleton brothers: Lefti, Midi and Righti. After deciding that they can't spend their whole (after)life mindlessly watching horror movies, the skelebros (I love this term) hop into a car and go on a road trip, looking for thrills.
The story is divided into four episodes, three chapters in each. So far only first episode was released. It starts with a prologue in skelebros' basement and then moves to a variety of locations. Each chapter has it's own theme and mechanics. In the first one we recruit musicians into a band with rhythm-based microgames. The second chapter takes us on a cruise ship, where we investigate a murder (don't ask me how it is possible to murder someone already dead, I have no bloody idea) and solve puzzles. The third one is food-themed with skelebros running their very own restaurant.
While the plot seems like a patchwork of various troubles main characters get themselves in, from the first chapter there are hints of something bigger going on with a certain sinister figure appearing from time to time. I have no idea where will this thread take us, but I have to admit I'm really intrigued. The fact said figure totally doesn't match the overall light-hearted atmosphere only fuels the curiosity.
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| But who cares about sinister figures when there are more serious problems to take care of – lack of toilet paper is a true nightmare! |
I absolutely adore the visuals of "SPOOKWARE" – it mixes 3D backgrounds with hand-drawn 2D characters with some photorealistic elements thrown in. It's unique and pleases the eye. The game takes also inspiration from VHS tapes: it has this specific grainy filter on, the pause menu looks like VHS player interface and the view sometimes shakes like the movies played from tape would (fortunately, we can switch the latter off in the settings. I mean, it looks nice and retro, but gets annoying in the long run). And I'm not even starting on the fact that microgames are often called "tapes" and we play them on an old TV, 'cause it's obvious.
However, despite the cutesy looks, we shouldn't forget that "SPOOKWARE" is still horror-themed and definitely shouldn't be played by children (or people who are sensitive to blood). There is a lot of gore (damn, in the prologue there is a microgame where we decapitate someone with a saw!) and some upsetting imagery. It gives a true whiplash when compared with cartoony characters and, to be honest, I loved it. But I can also understand that some people may be put off by this, so proceed with care.
Also, a little warning for fellow arachnophobes: there are some spiders in first chapter. Nasty photorealistic spiders. I'll be honest, I felt a little bit uneasy at this particular part...
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| However, the game as a whole is not scary. I mean, it's hard to be scared when distressing imageries are drown in tons of jokes. |
Another thing I love about "SPOOKWARE" is its humour. The game is very self-aware and often pokes fun at how absurd some of the events are. The skelebros being just a bunch of dorks who often can't see the weirdness only adds fuel to the carousel of comedy. Another things that appears often are jokes that break the fourth wall. The characters sometimes comment on the game itself – my favourite is in the first chapter, when Midi is worried that the camera is fixed and the player doesn't see the beautiful view from school's building. It was unexpected and hilarious. In general, when playing, it's the best to talk to everyone and check every place – absurd gags are hidden literally everywhere, along with tons of bone puns and some black comedy. It's awesome.
Okay, I praised, but now I have to scold a little. As it was already mentioned, "SPOOKWARE" is based on microgames. They appear at various points, always fitted into the story. Most of them last only several seconds (with some exceptions, which serve as kind of bosses, these are longer) with timer at the bottom of the screen. It means that you have very short time to figure out the mechanics and beat the microgame. Usually it works well – the microgames are intuitive and you have just enough time to meet the goal. Of course, with the sheer number of microgames you play, there's no surprise some of them are worse. There are some really frustrating ones either due to how counter-intuitive they are, their wonky controls and hit points (the "protect the traveler from the sun" one suffers from it a lot) or the too tight time limit (the finger grating needs several more seconds, 'cause beating it now is almost impossible). I wouldn't complain about it, as I said, it is kind of expected. However, almost all problematic microgames are accumulated in third chapter. And let me be honest, it is a problem, especially when you have to restart a big part of the chapter several times because you constantly get the hardest microgames one after another and lose all your lives thanks to failing them. It's annoying and I won't be surprised if some players actually rage quit thanks to it.
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| I'm a rather patient person, but sometimes I really wanted to yeet my laptop through the balcony... |
"SPOOKWARE" isn't a long game – depending on how long you spend playing the microgames and talking to all NPCs possible (which I really, really recommend), you can beat it in something around 4 hours. I think it's quite a good time, especially when you consider it's just a first episode.
Despite some annoyances, I enjoyed "SPOOKWARE" a lot. It's interesting, funny (I can't remember when was the last time I laughed so much during video game, really) and has some clever ideas. I think it's worth checking out, especially now – Halloween is coming, so why not try something spooky?
And after you finish, you can join me in waiting for next episodes. I can't wait to see what troubles skelebros would get themselves into.
Image sources:
The screenshots were taken by me while playing the game.
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