A Match-3 Meta-Gem?
If, like me, playing the third game in a series makes you feel like you are missing out on something, fear not: Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is not actually the third game in a series.
Coming from Strange Scaffold, this game is actually the first in the series, despite the game’s lore suggesting that it has been on the go for the last 20 years. Confused? You ain’t seen nothing yet…
Billed as a “Match-3 survival horror comedy RPG metroidvania”, it is hard to think of a game genre that hasn’t been mentioned, except maybe an FPS. So, come with me to a mansion that is creepy, and has dinosaurs in it. Let’s go!
Dinosaurs, Developers, and Destiny
Story? Well, there is one of those, but even that is a little weird. Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is committing to the story that this is a sequel to a game, so much so that these fictional earlier adventures are referenced no end of times. We are sent to a mansion to investigate reports of dinosaurs, and of course, we manage to find some. Can we get through the increasingly silly story, featuring a team of fictional developers, the full knowledge of our character that we are in a video game, and still be able to hunt down the bugs in the game and get it running properly?
The story is presented by a series of branching paths, and the decisions that we make can make all the difference to the outcomes that play out. Can you find your way to the end?
Functional Aesthetics and Underwhelming Sound
Presentation of the game is our next port of call, and I feel that a good word to describe this would be “functional”. It is hard to make a match-3 game visually exciting, I get that, but the developers have had a damn good crack at it.
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is divided into three distinct sections: the exploration section, where we pick our way around a map from node to node, engaging in the activities on offer; a hub screen where we can shop and upgrade ourselves; and finally the match three sections themselves, which should be immediately familiar to anyone who ever picked up a mobile phone.
Each section is well done, with multiple choices to take as exploration plays out, each of which lead to a slightly different outcome. It just works without ever being massively exciting is about the best I can say.
Sound is another area where things are a bit underwhelming. The music is nice enough, but the story is presented with text cutscenes, which is a bit of a missed opportunity, I feel, and all in all it’s another case of enough being done to get by. No flair, no excitement, but the end result works well enough.
The Matchroidvania
But onto the gameplay, and here’s where things get really silly. The story of the game forms the backdrop to what we do, and while a lot of time is spent playing a match-3, it does have sufficient twists and turns to make it interesting. You see, as we progress through the game, our hero, J.J., learns new skills and abilities, and these abilities are then translated into the match-3 gameplay. What this means in practice is that to use the more damaging attacks, you have to match a certain number of jewels of the respective types, and then when you have the correct number of gems banked, you can unleash the attack. Or indeed, utilise your first aid training in order to heal.
Going through the game and getting as many skills as possible is therefore a cracking idea, and while these skills seem to be awarded in a somewhat arbitrary way, they can make all the difference.
We’re not just matching gems for the sake of it either, there are always other things we need to do in Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3. When fighting a dinosaur, we may have to match knives in order to do damage to our foe, while we may also have to match diamonds to stop a master jewel thief from stealing them. It’s all very silly, and backed up by the essential humour in the writing, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 turns into a pleasant way of passing some time.
A Silly, Addictive, and Playable Oddity
Working through the story and trying to cover all the bases will take some time. There is a section later in the game where we go to an area with three possible exits, and each one has to be explored in order to fully find out what is going on. Fighting an octopus for possession of a book about octopi is just the tip of the iceberg, and while that played out, my mind was already wondering what would have happened if I had chosen a different route in the conversation leading to that point.
Bring things together and there’s no doubt that Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 does enough to make it worth a punt. The story is silly and funny, and the action on display, the so called “matchroidvania”, does enough to make it addictive and playable. Trying to unravel what is going on will take a while, and even though it may not hold your attention for long, 20 minutes spent travelling a path in the story never feels wasted.
Important Links
The Bizarre Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 Arrives on Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-bizarre-creepy-redneck-dinosaur-mansion-3-arrives-on-xbox/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/creepy-redneck-dinosaur-mansion-3/9NWGK6Z71XQQ/0010
