Sssssake Passss hassss ssssstarted ssssslithering onto our PS4 this week! The game is a very colorful and pretty platformer I had been waiting a long time to finally play. How does the game fare on Sony’s home console? Read our Snake Pass review to find out!
If you enjoyed any game by RARE such as, say, Banjo and Kazooie, then you’ll feel right at home with Snake Pass since it has very strong RARE vibes – which is not a bad thing! There are 15 levels in the game, and each one has a TON of collectibles for you to get! Yes, this is a collectathon type of release and very welcomed one!
You play as Noodle a multi-coloured snake with a purple tongue. He is a cute and friendly snake who is joined by a hummingbird called Doodle. The game’s control are very interesting in that they are unlike anything I’ve played before! You move with the R2 trigger, and to pick up speed, you can slither around left and right. So far so good, right? Then we have the most difficult aspect of the game and one that will require some trial and error from you: getting onto the many bamboo structures in the game by raising your head as you try to wrap yourself around each piece.
You’ll need to lower and raise your head as you try to maintain a good enough grip over each structure to make your way up, down and all around it. You can use one of the left triggers to grip the bamboo, but the grip won’t keep you from sliding down and falling – sometimes to your doom – if you don’t take into consideration gravity. Physics will be a big part of the equation!
The story is about how the land that Noodle and Doodle care so much about is under threat by an unknown dark entity. This entity has taken the special jewels which are used to open the many portal gates in this world, and it has scattered them all around the lands. Each level has been cleverly designed to provide you with a challenge, and the difficulty curve is nice and steady so that you don’t feel overwhelmed.
The first three levels in the game are really an extended tutorial so that you can learn all the basics and get the hang of the controls. Depending on your skill, all 15 levels can be completed in a handful of hours… that is if you don’t go for finding and obtaining all collectibles in eveyr level! There’s definitely some replay value for the game, so if you like to 100% every release you play, you’ll get your money’s worth
The characters of Noodle and Doodle are very adorable and charming. For Noodle, in particular, you can change his facial expressions as you go on top of how he reacts to any given situation. The way he acts when you grab one of the blue glowing spheres in a level will certainly bring a smile to your face as well!
Each level is a self-contained location brought to life thanks to the power of Unreal 4. You’ll visit lush environments full of life, with high structures, rocky surfaces and lovely water areas in which you can swim. On top of the very important trio of gems you have to find in each level before you can play the next one, each level also has 20 blue orbs as well as five coins to collect. Most of them are easy to find as they’ll be placed on the main path you need to traverse to get to the exit, but every now and then a handful of orbs and a couple of the coins are in hard to reach places or hidden within tiny crevices or behind small structures.
Trophy hunters are going to love that Snake Pass includes a full trophy count with a Platinum… but there are a couple of trophies that will certainly try to get in the way of your 100% run! Take, for example, the trophy for completing every single level without dying. This pretty much means you’ll need to play every level twice since, unless you’re really good, you’ll end up dying every now and then as you try to get all the collectibles dangling near or on structures that are cast over bottomless pits.
Sumo Digital have done an outstanding job with Snake Pass on PS4. Sure, the controls require a bit of trial and error before you get used to them, but they’re not a deal-breaker. There’s also an option for an easier control scheme if you feel that you need it, so be sure to give that a try. Complementing the action and the great looking scenery is an outstanding soundtrack by the wonderful David Wise which perfectly complements what the game has to offer. I highly recommend that you get Snake Pass on PS4, especially if you have a PS4 Pro so that you can take advantage of the bump in resolution and graphics!
Disclaimer
This Snake Pass review is based on a PS4 copy provided by Sumo Digital.
