We all know that the environment is at a turning point. We are teetering on a precipice, and if we, as a species, don’t start making significant changes in how we impact the environment, we will soon cause irreversible damage. Some video games have taken advantage of current environmental conditions and built entire stories around them, and that’s exactly what Demagog Studio has done with its latest work, The Cub.
It’s a game that explores a post-apocalyptic Earth, a world where wealthy people travel to Mars to escape a catastrophic environmental disaster, only to return years later to conduct tests and experiments to determine whether the planet will ever survive and become hospitable again . OH. . . He also plays golf. The story itself revolves around a young boy who is raised by a wolf mother, survives a catastrophe, and then goes into hiding and escapes the Martian humans who only want to capture him alive. Basically, he thinks Planet of Lana, except instead of an army of fleeing robots, humans are your worst enemies.
The Cub’s main narrative is compelling and very simple. It blames the rich and how they treat and influence the rest of civilization and the planet, while showing the beauty of our world and how nature takes it back from the ever-expanding human species. It’s not a complex story at all, it simply explores the basic elements of the overall topic while weaving in emotional aspects such as other characters such as the human pilot who unknowingly walked away while flying one of the first rockets to evacuate Earth. His wife died on Earth. Furthermore, it easily identifies the true enemy of our planet, which in this story is humans, as even the most dangerous wildlife simply represents a basic environmental risk rather than a primary antagonist.
The level design is also a highlight. The art style of the game and the way it is built works well together and is really reminiscent of what Planet of Lana was trying to achieve. There are a variety of biomes to traverse, each with their own themes, dangers and mechanics, and similarly, the gameplay is simple and straightforward, requiring only a few mechanics to master at the best of times. But this simplicity can be a bit of a double-edged sword.
The Cub’s extra activities and missions are very mundane. The idea of this game is to follow the main story and there’s really no room to stray off the beaten path. However, Demagog decided to include a lot of collectibles to find, but since these collectibles are generally presented and placed on the player’s path, there is no thrill or reason to find them. Furthermore, these collectibles are really the only way to expand what The Cub has to offer, adding just a little bit of depth to the world-building and making it difficult to keep collecting them as you continue your journey.
Here is an announcement:
Couple this with the fact that The Cub seems to demand perfection from its platformers, and you get a game that can actually be a bit conflicting to play. I mean, many platforming elements leave little room for error. While the list of mechanics is pretty basic and the platforming itself is simple, if you don’t jump perfectly or miss a jump by a millisecond, you will die. For a game so simple in almost every aspect, it’s baffling that it requires near perfection and precision to complete its platforming portions.
With a short length of just a few hours and very limited replayability, The Cub is an ideal game that can be completed in a night or two, for that matter, given the interesting plot and beautiful graphics. This was a nice performance from Demagog. It’s a shame that the game is held back by overly frustrating platforming and uninspired collectibles, because there’s brilliance and huge potential here. However, for what it’s worth, The Cub will undoubtedly be one of the best indie games of January 2024.
Here is an announcement:
2024-01-17 16:00:00
#Cub #Review #Gamereactor