A High-Octane Feline Frenzy
Take in a trailer for CLAWPUNK, and you’ll no doubt come away thinking that it looks absolutely bonkers. If ever there was a game I HAD to play, it was this.
Coming from Kittens in Timespace and Megabit Publishing, CLAWPUNK promises to be a non-stop action blast from start to finish, and so I gathered up my nine lives and jumped in to the game.
There isn’t usually much of a story with these kinds of games, and while the narrative on display isn’t going to win any BAFTA award, the developers have made an effort, so I’ll attempt to explain what is going on.
Basically, a business cat (you can spot him by his tie) has decided to pollute the water of the city that the heroes of the game live in. It is bad enough having funny tasting water, but this has caused the rat population to mutate and grow, and this is an issue. Another issue is that the baddie of the piece has literally let the dogs out, unleashing his Hellhounds in order to eradicate the resistance.
In CLAWPUNK we play as a kitty; the last member of the resistance who hasn’t been captured, tasked with not only rescuing the rest of the crew, but bringing an end to the rule of business cat as well. No pressure, eh?
Vertical Chaos
CLAWPUNK is basically a pixel art adventure. Taking place in a side-on, platform kind of world, the levels are impressively vertical, with a lot of opportunity to cause chaos as we make our way through. The spites, both for the character we play as and the enemies, are pretty tiny, but cute. That does mean it can be hard to see some of the smaller enemies against the general background clutter, something that can lead to some cheap feeling deaths, however, the effects that play out are pretty spectacular, with explosions of barrels chaining together and creating a riot of colour on the screen.
Sound is also pretty good, with the booms of the explosions and the bangs of the firearms being exactly as you would expect. What lifts the action is the thumping heavy metal soundtrack, which ties in perfectly with the action that is shown on the screen. All in all, pretty good so far, yeah?
Mastering the Aggressive Melee Loop
But how does CLAWPUNK hold up in terms of action? Well, pretty well in the main, I have to say. The action is largely melee focused, and while there are a variety of firearms dotted about the place, the majority of the game is spent attacking in an up-close-and-personal manner. Leaving out the issue with smaller enemies blending into the background, the rest of the action is very good. The controls are tight and responsive, and mastering not only the jump but also the defensive dodge move is absolutely vital.
Luckily, the tutorial found in CLAWPUNK is pretty good at explaining what we need to do, and I highly recommend that you play through it before jumping in to the game.
From Big Arenas to Tight Quarters
There are five levels to conquer, and while the first four can be tackled in any order, the final level is only unlocked when the others have been beaten. The four beginning levels all have different aspects of the game that they focus on too: some are tight quarters, some are bigger arenas ideal for gunplay, and everything in between.
Each level has a number of sublevels, culminating in a boss fight: these are very tricky indeed. However, the real difference here is the style of gameplay, which rewards aggressive play above all else. Normally in these games I would be a little more circumspect, attacking from afar and making sure the coast is clear before moving in. However, in CLAWPUNK, the scoring system is geared towards making as much of an impact as possible, and constantly pushing forward is the style you need to adopt.
Carving Your Own Path to the Bottom
Neatly, the levels are all fully destructible, with the way the blocks are made up making it possible to create your own path through the level, almost. Taking the Junkyard as an example, stages are largely vertical, starting at the top and moving to the bottom, but the way you get there can be up to you. You see, blowing up barrels makes massive craters as well as damaging enemies, and so you just need to get to the bottom anyway you can.
Along the way, taking down surveillance equipment will score you extra currency to spend, bringing forth new abilities. And in addition, saving up enough money allows us to unlock new cats to play as, so there is always a reason to keep fighting.
An Intense, Full-Throttle Exhaustion
Yet herein lies the rub, at least for me. The action is so intense, there is barely a moment to rest, and so after about ten minutes with CLAWPUNK, I’m about exhausted. For the younger generation, those whose reflexes haven’t atrophied the way mine have, there is a lot to enjoy here, however, bear in mind that CLAWPUNK is full on, all the time.
And there is barely time to breathe.
Important Links
Clawpunk Brings Chaotic Feline Fury To Consoles And PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/clawpunk-brings-chaotic-feline-fury-to-consoles-and-pc/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/clawpunk/9p1jlvsqgf09
