Speedollama is on a bit of a sticky wicket from minute one, to be honest, as llamas have to be amongst the animals I don’t like the most. My aversion to these furry hooligans stems from when I took my son to a petting zoo, where it was possible to buy food to feed the various animals. As I approached a llama, I put my hand into the bag to grab some food for it, and it leant over the fence and closed its big teeth on the bag, complete with my knuckle. As I said “Ow!” or words to that effect, it took exception to this and spat at me.
As you can imagine, when a game came along that required me to play as a llama, I was initially hesitant about putting my hand up. However, coming from Chaosmonger Studio, Speedollama is about as bonkers as the name would suggest. And in my book, bonkers is a good thing.
So, let’s go to a world where llamas are the good guys, as hard as that is to believe, and fluffy alpacas are our sworn enemies. Lets get speedy!
The story of the game is as old as time, where a wise old llama guru has enlisted the help of a group of llama mercenaries to save their whole species. You see, the alpacas have engaged in a quest for world domination, and in order for this to happen, they want to see the back of all llamas. Luckily, we have a hi-tech drilling machine that will allow us to take the fight to the alpacas right where they don’t expect it. Along the way we will have to collect various things and get out. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, as far as the presentation goes, not a massive amount, it appears. Speedollama takes its inspiration from games of the late 80’s and early 90’s, and it apparently “features pixel art to capture a retro-arcade aesthetic”. Couldn’t have said it better myself!
The levels that we have to run through are procedurally generated, so no two attempts at a level are the same, and this certainly adds to the longevity of the game. The basic premise is a side scrolling platformer, with heavily armed quadrupeds of every description (and chickens!), and the animation of not only the three llamas we can play as, but the enemies that seem to abound is very good indeed. The bosses we have to face are also well designed with a lot of personality, and all in all, the way the game looks is very nice indeed.
The sound is also pretty good, with a pounding soundtrack accompanying the sound of heavy weapon fire and plaintive squeaks from various nefarious alpacas and their mates. Each of the weapons we can use has its own distinct sound, and everything seems to be hunky dory in this area. So far so good!
Gameplay is the next port of call on our voyage through Speedollama, and here the news is also pretty good.
As the name might suggest, speed is a large part of this game’s raison d’etre, and so we spend most of our time charging headlong through the ever changing levels, hunting down not only alpacas, but also the collectibles that we need from each set of levels. These can be found all over the level, and so exploration is really vital.
The levels are large in scale, not only horizontally but also vertically, and luckily our llama has not only a double jump to call upon, but can cling to walls and jump again for those long ascents. Scouring every corner of a level is necessary, as we need to not only get over 75% of the total amount of things on the level to open the gate to the next area (because video game logic) but we also have to find the exit, and get out before running out of time.
Luckily, there are various containers on the levels that can help us out here. These can contain more powerful weapons, or first aid kits or even, if we are lucky, a time extension, so it is always worth shooting the barrels and crates you see dotted around.
Killing enemies is also a focus, not only as it will make your life easier as you explore, but doing so provides coins. And as we all know, coins are used in shops to buy new abilities. Being able to run faster, jump higher or even have more health (alongside many more abilities) will make your next attempt easier.
On the flip, sometimes being able to run faster is not the blessing that you think, as the jumping in Speedollama is rather fussy. And speed is the enemy of precision…
Unleashing your mighty weapon on the alpacas is pretty satisfying, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it doesn’t get a bit samey after a while. I mean, sure, the levels are different each time, but the gameplay isn’t, and I’ve found myself picking this up when I have a few minutes spare to quickly blast through a level or two, then going back to something with a little more substance.
Speedollama is far from a bad game, and the action can certainly be fun and frantic, but it isn’t necessarily a game that will grab you and refuse to let go.
Speedollama: Llama-Fueled Mayhem on All Platforms! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/speedollama-llama-fueled-mayhem-on-all-platforms/
Buy Speedollama on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/speedollama/9mxthr0nhprm