Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark Review
Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark
Publisher: Team 17
Developer: Italic Pig
Genre:
PEGI: E
Comments:
What do we get when we combine science with a platform game? We get Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark. It’s a very long title for a game with a very long difficulty curve. You play as Schrödinger’s Cat trying to clean up the Particle Zoo and bringing harmony to the chaotic situation at hand.
At first I didn’t know how to go about the Italic Pig Xbox One title but as progression occurs throughout the levels it gets easier for you through trial and error. Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is a puzzle platform game. You control Schrödinger’s Cat as he collects four types of quarks and uses them to combine up to 14 combinations of different items to benefit your progress in each level. There are the Up, Down, Top and Bottom Quarks that through different combinations can give you a platform, a flying chopper, missiles, trampolines, traps, and more.
You, as Schrödinger’s Cat have been tasked with collecting all of the dangerous particles in the Particle Zoo that have escaped somehow and are wrecking havoc on the science world. As you continue on through the divided areas you see that there is more to the havoc than meets the eye.
At first I got through about four of the levels with just stunning the particles and not understanding why I cannot continue any further. Once Schrödinger’s Cat learns the trap combination you must use it to capture the particles in the game that have been inhabiting the zone. That is the main objective of the game. It can be rather challenging most of the time as reaching some particles can take some experimenting with different combinations to figure out how to capture them.
As you try to figure out some of the challenges you see that backtracking is all part of this game. If you misuse a quark or are stuck in a section, you backtrack. If you die, you backtrack. If you accidentally hit the backtrack button, you backtrack. Backtracking takes you to your last known checkpoint and you continue from there. It’s a great way for trial and error through the areas and levels but it’s also a very easy way for you to get extremely frustrated with the game if you cannot figure it out.
Finally when Schrödinger’s Cat captured all the quarks and all the particles in the area, it was rewarding and eliminated my frustration but as any other game, especially with a platform game, the further levels naturally get more difficult. Additional enemies were introduced to stop you from succeeding. As any game, at this point you should be able to handle yourself but will spend a few more minutes eliminating any additional science baddies.
Presentation is rather appealing in the Italic Pig title, more so than the actual game play and the idea of the game. The voice acting is really well done, with loads of quirky science jokes or one liners delivered by Schrödinger’s Cat, or supporting characters of the game. This has been one of the more vibrant games in recent times with the presentation of the visuals. All of the quarks are a different color and the backgrounds are usually a standard scene but they make up for it with the quarks animations, colors and sound effects.
Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is a clever, fun and frustrating game. There are many moments you need to really think things through, replay your moves and retry any glitchy areas but ultimately because of the fun in the game it provides you with hours of entertainment unless you decide to give up on it. We suggest giving it a try.
Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is available now on Xbox One for $9.99.