Platformers with unconventional movement systems are hard to come by in a world where everyone is trying to be the next Banjo-Kazooie, but rest assured because Snake Pass has you covered. I picked this game up several years ago after I heard a former LittleBigPlanet creator worked on it and was not disappointed. It's a unique experience that totally delivers on its concept, even if it's not exactly a home run.
Gameplay:
In Snake Pass, you play as a snake, and thus, you move like a snake. The gameplay involves you slithering around the environment and using your noodle-like body to wrap around and climb obstacles. The game pulls this off decently well. You hold the right trigger to slither forward, push a button to raise your head, and use the left stick to move your head around to direct yourself. Gravity does the rest of the work. It's got a learning curve, but luckily, the game has a fairly balanced difficulty throughout to let you improve naturally. Can it be frustrating? Yes, but the fun of playing with the physics can be its own reward... sometimes... There are some parts of the gameplay that feel off though. I swear the button that supposedly helps you hang onto things better does not help at all. I don't know what it is about dying in a pit of spikes/lava, but it just feels so awkward and bad (which is probably the weirdest thing I'll ever say in a review, but I promise it makes sense when you're playing the game). This is undoubtedly the most nitpicky of my complaints, but falling off of ledges feels really bad and I always mentally wince whenever it happens. But hey, I may complain and nitpick, but I do still absolutely have to give the developers props for pulling off the movement system to begin with. To my knowledge, it hadn't been done before and I don't think it has been done since.
The gameplay loop sees you climbing through levels and collecting three main collectibles in each, oftentimes doing some light puzzle-solving along the way. It's a little monotonous, but luckily, the game's many levels are always throwing new challenges at you to test your slithering skills to varying degree of success... Oh my GOSH the lava area drives me NUTS. I just have to say it. I have nightmares about the levels in that section. Anyway, the game also gives you a nice amount of side objectives to pursue. There's several blue orbs throughout the levels, often placed in risky locations. They make for a nice way to add some extra challenge. Same goes for the three hidden gold coins throughout each level, though they tend to be more annoyingly obscure. There's also extra modes like a time trial mode and an arcade mode which both change the way you play the game. Safe to say this game has a pretty decent amount of content.
Visuals:
This game looks really good. The environments are ridiculously vibrant and gorgeously designed. The UI matches the game's beauty quite well. I do have one small complaint, and it's that the character models look a little weird, especially the lighting on them. The snake's is pretty good at least, but the fact that its mouth is entirely a shade of light pink in the model doesn't look very polished. (The cutscenes being unskippable is also super annoying)
Conclusion:
Though it definitely has its iffy areas, Snake Pass is an overlooked game worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of unconventional movement systems. It's an experience you can't really get anywhere else. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys 3D platformers.
Gameplay:
In Snake Pass, you play as a snake, and thus, you move like a snake. The gameplay involves you slithering around the environment and using your noodle-like body to wrap around and climb obstacles. The game pulls this off decently well. You hold the right trigger to slither forward, push a button to raise your head, and use the left stick to move your head around to direct yourself. Gravity does the rest of the work. It's got a learning curve, but luckily, the game has a fairly balanced difficulty throughout to let you improve naturally. Can it be frustrating? Yes, but the fun of playing with the physics can be its own reward... sometimes... There are some parts of the gameplay that feel off though. I swear the button that supposedly helps you hang onto things better does not help at all. I don't know what it is about dying in a pit of spikes/lava, but it just feels so awkward and bad (which is probably the weirdest thing I'll ever say in a review, but I promise it makes sense when you're playing the game). This is undoubtedly the most nitpicky of my complaints, but falling off of ledges feels really bad and I always mentally wince whenever it happens. But hey, I may complain and nitpick, but I do still absolutely have to give the developers props for pulling off the movement system to begin with. To my knowledge, it hadn't been done before and I don't think it has been done since.
The gameplay loop sees you climbing through levels and collecting three main collectibles in each, oftentimes doing some light puzzle-solving along the way. It's a little monotonous, but luckily, the game's many levels are always throwing new challenges at you to test your slithering skills to varying degree of success... Oh my GOSH the lava area drives me NUTS. I just have to say it. I have nightmares about the levels in that section. Anyway, the game also gives you a nice amount of side objectives to pursue. There's several blue orbs throughout the levels, often placed in risky locations. They make for a nice way to add some extra challenge. Same goes for the three hidden gold coins throughout each level, though they tend to be more annoyingly obscure. There's also extra modes like a time trial mode and an arcade mode which both change the way you play the game. Safe to say this game has a pretty decent amount of content.
Visuals:
This game looks really good. The environments are ridiculously vibrant and gorgeously designed. The UI matches the game's beauty quite well. I do have one small complaint, and it's that the character models look a little weird, especially the lighting on them. The snake's is pretty good at least, but the fact that its mouth is entirely a shade of light pink in the model doesn't look very polished. (The cutscenes being unskippable is also super annoying)
Conclusion:
Though it definitely has its iffy areas, Snake Pass is an overlooked game worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of unconventional movement systems. It's an experience you can't really get anywhere else. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys 3D platformers.