Low Story Review

There is a worry among certain people in the creative industry about toys coming to life and killing us all. A sort of X-rated Toy Story. 

But films have dealt with this before; what with the likes of Chucky and, more recently, Megan. The gaming world focuses on it too – Five Nights at Freddy’s sees robot mascots coming alive, or you could pick from dozens of horror games where dolls wander the land with murderous intent. 

In Low Story, you play a toy that is hell-bent on revenge, working its way across a strange dark world. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Give a toy a gun and mayhem will ensue. 

The story is one told without any words and very little fuss, a kind of hindrance that we have to get through before the shooting starts. You play Low, a darker version of Playstation’s Sackboy. At the start of the game, we see the toy getting thrown out of a high-rise building onto the floor. From there that same toy heads out into the night, wandering the streets of a dark city sometime in the future; a place where evil reigns. But if you think this is a cute adventure, think again because Low soon wears a black hat and mask, wielding a gun to cause mayhem. He is looking for something called Red One: The World Keeper, hunting a key and getting revenge. 

The atmosphere in this 2.5D adventure is a good one, with some interesting landscapes and visual storytelling. But the narrative part of the game should very much be seen as nothing more than window dressing for what is a simple shooter platformer. 

Gameplay does seem odd at first, especially as you start your adventure without guns or any idea of what to do. The character moves in a not-so-satisfying way and you’ll probably be left wondering if things will ever get going. But there is something about Low Story that warms up and, by the end, you will find yourself loving Low, having a very good time indeed. 

The gameplay starts with you jumping and running, moving from left to right. When you get a gun, it’s time for the chaos to take place, taking down the robots who are hunting you. There’s a bog-standard shooter to start with, but soon you get access to an uzi, a shotgun, and a bazooka along the way. There are power-ups to collect as well, extra damage to use and of course, much-needed health. 

There are six levels included in Low Story, and it should take you around three hours or so to work through all of them. And as you may expect, end of levels see a boss battle pop; they are nothing truly original, yet they are all varied and fun to defeat. Away from those though, the platforming elements in Low Story are pretty basic, but work. Neatly, there are some interesting puzzle elements to the game and a special mention must go to these, especially a section in which you have to transport floating red orbs to open portals. Low Story, on the whole, has some ambitious elements and does some great stuff for a game of this size and budget. 

Visually and design-wise a brilliant job has been done. This is a dark urban world populated by strange robot killing machines. The creature design is good, as is the variety of bosses on display. The main character animation can seem a little basic, a bit old school, but very soon you forget about this and immerse yourself in the world. 

I’ll admit, I wasn’t initially convinced by Low Story. The movement is strange and it failed to deliver any originality. But slowly it started to hook, whisking us off to a dystopian-looking cityscape and a toy on a revenge mission. Once it gets going, Low Story comes complete with some fun gameplay, a decent shooting mechanic and varied bosses. However it is in the little puzzle elements in which the inventiveness comes. 

Cheap to buy, Low Story is capable of delivering a short and sweet adventure, and that means it is worth a punt.