Playing A Game BattleBlock Theater PC

In case it wasn't obvious from the past few weeks of rapid-fire glogging, I'm presently trying to burn through my backlog. No mercy; no remorse. I've been making it a point to target smaller games, and/or ones I expect to get fed up with quickly. In that respect, BattleBlock Theater is ... something of an anomaly.

I made the purchase based on interweb recommendation, but other than hilarious narration, I really had no idea what to expect going in. It looks like a multi-agent battle arena? Or some kind of platform-puzzle game, ala Blocks That Matter? In fact, BattleBlock Theater is a platformer -- and the reason that this isn't visually clear, is because it's a non-traditional platformer, in many ways. You'll drown in water blocks, but lava blocks aren't fatal, and in fact propel you to new heights. There are enemies, but jumping on them doesn't tend to hurt you, or them; in fact, you can ride them like platforms. There is a context-specific control for paddling your hand in the water, in order to draw a boat toward you. Yeah, it's, bizarre.

But it works! Actually playing the game, it's clear that this is a movement-oriented platformer with fresh and creative mobility challenges. Collecting gems and navigating to the end of a level is a unique and fun exercise in exploring the game's varied, wacky movement mechanics. And while early levels are simple, it isn't long before they get pretty challenging, between mazes of deadly obstacles (with thankfully-forgiving checkpoints) and time limits that turn some levels into hectic races against the clock.

So, BattleBlock turned out to surprise and impress me with its clever design. And, it is fairly fun, in general. But the catch is that - not unlike Behemoth's previous games, Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers - it's just a bit too repetitive. New mechanics aren't introduced quite fast enough, and variations on existing mechanics iterate a tad too slowly. The number of levels in a chapter seems high, and the differences between them seem low, given they block progress through the game's story. (And for what it's worth, the story cutscenes, while very funny, also feel like they drag on.)

And there is a glut of content in this game, evidently, somewhere on the order of 100-150 levels over eight chapters. Unfortunately, that's the punchline for me. I'm already getting a little bored with the level design, only one chapter in; so I know that I'll get tired and resentful of the game long before reaching the end.

BattleBlock Theater is a very cool idea, and I'm glad I played of it what I did. But, I'm also perfectly content to stop at this fairly early point, rather than trying harder and harder to squeeze enjoyment out of it as the story proceeds.

That said, the prospect of multiplayer co-op here sounds pretty appealing, as well -- so maybe I'll be back, with a friend, later on.

Progress: Finished Chapter 1, started Chapter 2.

Rating: Good