I’m not sure that the era of the party game is still a thing. After the upheaval of various lockdowns in the Covid era, I still haven’t had a group of friends round to play games on a regular basis, and even my son much prefers to play with his friends over the online space.
So, in light of all that, Three Flip Studios may well have their work cut out with Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition; a four player local couch multiplayer only game. So, is it worth getting your mates around to play, or is solitary splendour enough?
In Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition you play as a blob, intent on taking down other blobs. In its most simplest terms, that’s about all there really is to it. The presentation of the game is likewise very simple – we have an arena, filled with up to four differently coloured blobs floating about. Those various arenas have different layouts that can help or hinder your attempts to come out on top, and, for instance, getting hung up on a rotating space station at the wrong moment can spell death!
Obviously, the best of these multiplayer party games are quite simple graphically, with a hook to keep dragging you back, and Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition is 50% of the way there. The sound is fairly minimal too, with damp explosions and an over enthusiastic announcer bellowing excitably. It’s very much as you’d expect. This is shaping up to be the shortest review I’ve ever written…
So, let’s move on to the gameplay, and check out the modes that are on offer. The first and most recognisable is a straight up Death Match, with any combination of four real players or AI bots that can be included. You can set the score limit in this mode, and the first player to reach the target wins. Then there is Time Match, which is the same as a Death Match except that it is the player with the best score when the time runs out that wins. Stock Match is basically a last blob standing affair, and when your stock of lives runs out, you are eliminated.
But that isn’t all! Blob Dojo allows you to practise your moves and “get swole” (I have no idea), while the Combo King mode relies on you keeping your killstreak going. Blob Soccer does what it says on the tin – you have to score more goals than your opponent, as you’d expect. Blob Blitz is a faster paced version of Blob Soccer, and Blob Bombardment is a game of dodgeball with a twist – the balls you are trying to dodge are actually cannon balls that are fired at you by your opponents. And yes, it is as bonkers as it sounds! The final mode is Food Fight, where you have to make sure that you grab the most tacos as they float around the screen. And that is your lot!
The actual gameplay is a bit hard to get used to, to be honest. There is a dash mechanic that you have to charge up, and once it is ready to use, can be utilised to smash into other blobs, either stealing their weapons or killing them outright. The only way to counter a dash is to dash right back at your attacker, and while this does sound like an interesting mechanic, in practice it never gets used. It is much easier to wander around the stage, picking up weapon after weapon, getting bigger and bigger until you resemble a hedgehog with every spine being a gun barrel. From there, you’re left to obliterate your opposition.
However, the AI will be wise to your tricks, and should they be smaller than you, can somehow get right up close, ensuring that your guns will miss, all before killing you. But don’t try this when the AI has the upper hand in size, because it simply doesn’t work. And this is the crux of the problem with Armed and Gelatinous – you can’t always have four mates together in a room, and playing against the AI bots is absolutely brutal. In fact, as a single player proposition it is on a hiding to nothing.
Things are better as a multiplayer proposition, but Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition does still struggle in terms of a hook. There’s no doubt that the game modes can keep you busy for a little while, but after that…? It means that while there is a bit of fun to be had here, there are much better party games available over Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition. Jackbox, anyone?
