Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape Review

Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape

Release: November 24, 2016
Publisher: TACS Games
Developer: TACS Games
Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie, Other, Shooter
PEGI: 10+
Comments:

 

Comment

An octopus and a submarine get stuck together and what happens next may surprise you! The Octopus and the sub work together to get through many mazes and some epic boss fights too. The game is called Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape and its out now for the Wii U. Here is my review!

Octocopter’s story is simple, but also very unique. I do wish there were more cutscenes between levels or between worlds to keep the story going though. The opening narration is neat and I like the idea of this octopus and submarine being stuck together. Ocotocopter has a neat concept, but is it a good game?

The gameplay in Octocopter seems easy at first, but the game’s difficulty quickly ramps up. I wish that there was a tutorial to get you use to the controls and some of the new concepts that are introduced. It doesn’t take too long to get use to the controls and obstacles, however a tutorial would have helped and made the difficulty adjustment easier.

Octocopter does have really good controls though. The analog stick works well with the game, which is key to your survival in Octocopter. You need precise controls to navigate the mazes and thats what you get with this game. You can also shoot missles at enemies and that works well too. There is Off-TV play with this game, but there is no sound on the gamepad (see audio). Octocopter doesn’t use the gamepad in any unique way either. I could see touch screen navigation or even using the gyro control to navigate mazes as something this game could have taken advagate of. Even so, Octocopter has good gameplay.

The gameplay in Octocopter becomes more complex as you go. The mazes become bigger and more obstacles are presented. Although, I do wish that the healing platforms were also save checkpoints. Its more then a little frustrating to get far in the long mazes, die, and have to go all the way back to the beginning. But the mazes are fun and challenging to navigate and the boss battles at the end of each world present a nice change of pace! Octocopter is a neat game overall. I do wish that the games graphics and sound were a bit better though.

The graphics in Octocopter was not bad. The Octopus and sub are well animated and while the enviroments are not the best, they are not the worst graphics I’ve seen on the Wii U either. I do wish there was more variety to the environments that you explore; many of the mazes look the same.

As for the game’s music and sound, I thought they were ok. The level music can get a bit annoying. There is no sound on the gamepad and that turned out to be a blessing. It was much easier to focus on the mazes without the music or sound effects. I do highly recommend having the sound on when you start the game, because the opening voice narration is very good! Overall, Octocopter is a good game, but there are some things about it that I wish were better.

I like Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape, but I do think it could have been a bit better. It would’ve been great to have seen the story expanded throughout the game, the gamepad given a bit more use, and the graphics and sound could’ve been better. But if you are up to the challenge, Octocopter has good gameplay and a unique concept. I think people who like a challenge will like this game even more than me. If you want something different and challenging, you could do  a lot worse than Octocopter. I’m definitely looking forward to what this game’s developer does next!

Thanks to Thomas Hopper for providing me with a review code for this game. Octocopter: Super Sub Squid Escape is now available on the Wii U eshop.

Positives

• Unique concept
• Good gameplay
• Nice Voice Acting

Negatives

• No midlevel saves
• Music and sound effects could be better
• Gamepad use is lacking