Snake Pass

Yes this totally counts as a 3d platformer

'stretching' the definition of a 3d platformer, Snake Pass is an innovative take on movement in games with a nostalgic paint job.

So, what's Snake Pass?

Snake Pass is a 3D platformer (in my opinion) where you play as a huge, bulky snake named Noodle (aww!). It's divided into 15 levels, some more linear than others, where you collect various items and climb your way through a (very small) variety of obstacles.

I have to be honest, though: I didn't fully replay the game for this review! I did 100% complete it maybe 4 or 5 years ago, and I played a few hours of it in order to write this review, but only got around halfway in this time around. I'll explain why in a moment.

Things I liked

As mentioned in the sidebar, I cannot glow enough about how fun and interesting the controls for this game are! Noodle can't climb like a quadruped can, so you have to twist him around things to move him. He also can't jump, so you have to reach far-out or high-up objects by anchoring the rest of your body to something solid. There's a more thorough video explaining how this works that you should check out if you're interested. It's how I found out about the game, if I remember correctly, and speaking from experience I can say the movement really does work quite well. I had a lot of fun trying to get some of the challenging hidden items, especially when there was a complicated maneuver through bamboo poles I had to make.

Things I didn't like

I get the sense playing this game that movement was the only thing much thought went into. There are very very few assets to speak of in the game, so I felt like I was going through the same jungle temple-y setting every single level. They try to hide this by changing the skybox every few levels and adding like one gimmick (pools of water you can swim in, pits of hot coal or spikes) but it's definitely not enough to fight the same-ness. I also really wouldn't have liked the assets even if they were only used once, because they aren't very conductive to the character they're built around. Trying to find every single item in every nook and cranny is not very fun when you're playing as a big bulky creature that can't move quickly or turn around very easily. This would have me spending most of my time in each level SCOURING every single corner, fighting the camera along the way, just to find the last two or three items for full completion. I wouldn't reccommend trying to fully beat the game for this reason.

Speaking of same-ness, there's also an extremely limited soundtrack in the game. They hired a famous composer to write a few tracks, so I get the feeling they couldn't afford having him write more than they did. The songs are fine, good even, but started feeling annoying as I heard them over and over and over again.

Verdict

If you want to play something that really thinks outside the box when it comes to controls and movement, I really think you should give this a shot..If it's on sale. The controls are super cool, but they don't do enough work to justify the 20 dollar price tag when the rest of the game feels so unfinished. I feel like they made one temple level as a tech demo, then when they made the full game got lazy and didn't bother thinking very hard about world design afterwards.

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