Bound to Delight
At risk of repeating something that I have said before, and at further risk of plagiarising Forrest Gump, reviews are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get.
Such is the case with the subject of this review and a game that goes by the name of Fling to the Finish. It’s from Splitside Games and Daedalic Entertainment, landing on the market and being billed as a racing game, albeit with a slight difference.
You see, instead of being in a car or a hoverjet, we are two weird and wacky characters joined together by an elastic rope. The goal? Well, that is to reach the end of some chaotic courses as quickly as possible.
Confusing? Yeah, but I’ll do my best to explain what is going on. As soon as I figure it out myself…
Chaotic Courses
It is in the presentation of the game where we shall begin today, and the news here is pretty good. The courses that we have to race on are a mixed bunch, ranging from caves through to a giant casino, and they are all depicted nicely. Fling to the Finish is basically a 3D racer with an into the screen perspective, and all the courses look suitably solid and frankly crazy. The question is, can we tiptoe by lasers and ride mine carts? Of course we can!
The customisation of the little creatures that represent us is also a good touch, and as you progress, more and more avatars are unlocked to allow you to put your own spin on things. The layouts of the tracks get more and more complicated as you progress too, and you’ll find that they always deliver a challenge. That is helped by the speed at which things play out, something which is quite refreshing, as you can get a fair old turn of speed on the downhill sections. The camera has no issues keeping up though, which is good to see. Just be careful on the bends!
The audio is a bit more subdued, with the actual racing not having many sound effects to speak of. You’ll discover a squelch as the various things we play as stick themselves in place, a “Twang” as we send our partner flying using the elastic rope, and that’s about your lot. The music makes up for it by being incredibly loud and annoying, so a trip into the menus is recommended before you start, lest your ears fall off! So, a mixed bag, but it works.
Couch and Online Co-op: The Heart of the Game
In terms of the actual gameplay itself, and here Fling to the Finish is a story of two halves. You can choose to play in either single player or that of co-op, with the latter flavour of game split into the online and couch variety. Luckily, having a 14 year old son with his own Xbox, I have a built in tester, and so we tried it both ways.
Couch co-op is where we began, and in a move reminiscent of Micro Machines on the SEGA Megadrive, you can play this game by sharing a controller. This is about as hard as it gets, but works okay. The game really comes alive when two controllers get involved though, and this is certainly where the most fun will be fun. Dive in and you’ll discover that each player takes control of one half of the pair of racers, and they can jump, steer and also stick in place: doing so allows the opportunity to climb walls by sticking, then catapulting the partner up, where they then stick. Repeat the process and your time in Fling to the Finish will be a good one.
Catapulting to Victory
If this sounds complicated, it actually is really intuitive, and you’ll soon be haring around the courses, clinging on to the edge of disaster, but somehow managing to fling each other in the right direction. The co-op mode is good fun, with various challenges providing a test of your gaming skills. Can you reach the end of the track in a “3 duck” time (their equivalent of a gold medal, I guess), or get to the end before the bomb you are carrying explodes? Well, you’d best hope so!
Continuing on the theme of co-op play, and Fling to the Finish comes complete with online play – and frankly, it is just as good as the couch option. When playing online, the netcode works really well, and not only can you play in a co-op style, but there are also races you can take part in against other players too. These races get quite intense, as when you fall behind, you are given useful things to make up the ground, and the lead can change hands more in one race than in an entire season of Formula 1.
The Octopus Problem: Single Player Struggles
The opposite side of the coin is the single player mode, but here the news is not quite so good, as with so many games before. If you play alone, the left side of the controller controls the left racer, and the right hand side the right, and it does get as confusing as it sounds. Maybe an octopus could manage the contorted positions that your hands need to adopt, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t, and so a fall to my death was the usual result. The game works in single player, but it feels more like work, rather than a madcap race which it is in co-op.
A Near Must-Buy – if You Bring a Friend
All in all, whilst Fling to the Finish works in single player mode, it really comes alive in multiplayer. If you have a regular pal to play with, either online or on the couch, then Fling to the Finish is an easy sell. But if you don’t have such a friend…
Important Links
Tethered Together, Thrown to Victory – Fling to the Finish is OUT TODAY – https://www.thexboxhub.com/tethered-together-thrown-to-victory-fling-to-the-finish-is-out-today/
Fling to the Finish is on the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/fling-to-the-finish/9p86ds30j0s1
