Splasher's OLD Demo

*Author's Note*

I wrote this review long before the new demo came out, and have finnaly been able to post it. I have not played the new demo, but I do plan on trying it. From what I've seen I can say that I enjoy the new route they're taking with it.

Developer: Splash Team

Publisher: Splash Team

Format: PC

Splasher is something of a 2D Tag: The Power of Paint. It's got the same concept of you utilizing a machine that shoots different colored paints that do different things. You have your bouncy paint, your sticky paint(which is a lot less nauseating in this game than it is in Tag), and the water to erase the previous two paints. I should go ahead and say up from that this is one a demo so far, and from what I've seen lately I'm probably judging this from a later version by the time this comes out. Oh well, I don't believe too much was changed, so let me just go out and state my thoughts.

The platforming is great, although the demo really wants you to use a controller, making the controls a bit weird. To move sideways its with either D or Q instead of D or A. Jumping is space, which is fine, and shooting is controlled by the mouse. It takes a bit of getting used to as has slight bugs. The controller works fine though, so if thats an available option I'd suggest going with it.

There are a bunch of jumping puzzles throughout the levels, most involving the paints. It does a good job of introducing the paints, setting up the levels where it'll introduce you a variety the problems that can be solved the the newly introduced paint, until you are either gifted a new paint or put in a situation where you'll need to use multiple paints at once to solve the problem at hand. These problems you come across can be in the form of a variety of different obstacles. These obstacles can include flying enemies, ground enemies, spikes, buzz saws, watermills, etc. with their own way of being dealt with. That adds a lot of variety, not including the ways they can be mixed together.

Lets move to the major flaws I found. These are flaws I assume will be fixed once the game is finished. The major flaw would be aesthetics. It lacks in the art and music department. The sounds for the game are great, but the fact that there is no music makes it feel empty. The art isn't bad on characters and enemies and really most of the stuff you can interact with, but the background is extremely bland and blank. I do understand that it is a very early prototype, which is why I assume the game will be shaped in in those departments by the time it's finished.

Anyways, thats my look at the demo of Splasher, a game I will keep my eye on. From their latest video, it looks like they've been adding cool mechanics, like the colored shields on enemies that require you to shoot them with specific colors coordinating with their shield. It looks like it's making progress, and will hopefully turn out to be a fun game!

#gamereview