Review | Spelunky
That’s the core. But that’s the foundation of a good, solid game with a plan. Spelunky is so much more than that. Spelunky is, hands down, the best game I’ve played this year. Here’s why.
//Grand designs
Firstly, most obviously, it’s a good platformer. The controls are responsive, the hit-boxes precise, and the rules – while totally unreasonable – are clear. Top to bottom. Kill enemies. Avoid traps. Collect treasure. Rescue women. Go!
Secondly, the world design is fantastic. Its simple, tile-based structure works both in terms of the randomising technology and the overall aesthetic of the game. The first few caves are brown and lifeless, but that’s still part of the image. From there, you’ll delve deeper into this world, through grassy areas, rooms flooded with water, and even a bizarre space-age existing miles below the planet’s surface. Its visual style never stems beyond basic tiles, but the art is perfectly suited, and always in tune with the bigger picture.
Thirdly, the staggering detail and variety contained within this world is just mind-blowing. Spelunky’s most simple mechanics may be glisteningly obvious, but the more you play, the more you realise you have significant choices. On the most basic level, you can choose whether to simply race from point A to point B and hope for the best – often a great strategy for a while – or you can plan your journey, look around, think carefully and take your time. Do you deviate from your path to find more treasure to spend at the various shops around the caves – from which you can buy weapons, climbing rope, bombs and the like – or do you skip it and plough on to the next level? Should you rescue a damsel in distress – which gains you an extra life but prevents you from carrying or using any other items in the meantime – or do you really need to have your whip, bombs and rope on-hand at all times? These are all very real decisions you’ll be making on a second-to-second basis, the game becoming more frantically taxing as each platform goes by.
This is an exceptionally clever, unassumingly deep game. It’s basically flawless. Basically.
//Five finger discount
Okay, so I said earlier I had no complaints. That’s no longer true, as I’ve thought of one. But it is just the one, and it should be pretty clear how much I’m clutching at straws here. While you can steal from shopkeepers, it’s almost never advisable to do so. They’ll whip out a shotgun and shoot you in the face, killing you instantly. If, by some fluke, they miss and you manage to disarm them, the entire trade union will spread “wanted” posters around Spelunky’s world, meaning every single other shopkeeper will shoot you in the face too. If, by some incredibly outrageous fluke, they miss as well, they’ll rig traps to the level exits. Ultimately, such action will see your demise.
But that’s not even really a proper complaint, because seeing the lengths Spelunky goes to in adapting to your decisions is remarkable. It heavily rewards experimentation and quick reflexes. So sure, 19 times out of 20 you won’t live three seconds after stealing something. But if you do, you’re rewarded for it. Not with anything that’ll actually help your playing in the long run – you really think a bit of extra rope and a shotgun are going to make Spelunky easy? – but with its phenomenal, dynamic attention to detail. Spelunky, for every second that it’s running, shows you it cares.
Usually through a period of twisted, systematic torture. Spelunky enjoys that.
It’s just brilliant. I could witter on for pages longer, but it makes sense to leave at least a few of its many surprises intact. Of all the wonderful games released this year, Spelunky is the one I’ve kept coming back to, all the way through its beta, and intend to continue furiously playing for many more months. At just a few megabytes, there are no excuses not to play this. It’s a game that could well shape the indie landscape for years to come.
10/10
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I want this stupid game. electronic cigarette
E-cigarettes are great. I own two; I recommend the Envy.
The last word of the 3rd paragraph should be “ever” instead of “never”.
I can google, but for christe’s sake, is one gotdamn link to much to ask?
[...] See the rest here: Spelunky review (PC) | Resolution Magazine [...]
No Nobody: link’s in the game info bar at the top.
Stanley: No it shouldn’t. “If ever” would have been right. I decided to be awkward, though, as I’m fond of doing. :-)
Dude,
you say you really liked the game where’s the link love?
http://spelunkyworld.com/
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[...] is cool, the levels are well constructed and you never get bored playing the game. Here to the more detailed review and here to the [...]
Just a few comments.
The first is that the “Five Finger Discount” section is quite a bit of a spoiler. It’s almost the only thing you can spoil in the game; explaining the consequences when you successfully do steal. I would recommend revising it, to just simply say the game becomes possibly a bit unfair after doing it.
I feel the game is only really unfair the first time you encounter something new. You don’t know what to expect, and it’s usually your doom as a result. But the resulting deaths are usually comical enough that even those are more amusing than frustrating. After that, you know what’s coming and you can avoid it, if you’re clever enough, fast enough, or have the right equipment. You can’t really be killed by anything offscreen, unless you do something unwise such as fall too far (fatal even without spikes) or run too fast (running is only useful when you know where you’re going). There are no insta-deaths you cannot avoid, again assuming you have the rope, bomb, or other tool needed to defeat it. I can count on one hand the number of games where I ran out of a tool I needed after carefully managing my inventory. That’s what makes the game so great: When you die, it’s your fault. You made a mistake. The game wasn’t unfair, you just couldn’t measure up.
Finally, it’s a great review. :-) It captures what makes Spelunky really interesting and fun, despite it being such a simple (in some senses) game.
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