The Cave Review

By , on October 10, 2013
Last modified 10 years, 5 months ago


The Cave
  • Publisher: SEGA
  • Genre: Adventure
  • Released: 3 Oct, 2013
  • Size: 1.1 GB
  • Price: $4.99
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Hilarious vocal performances by the Cave and its denizens. 
  • The option to uncover the stories and motivations of all 7 characters.

CONS

  • Touch controls are extremely unreliable.
  • A lot of backtracking involved.
  • Much of the content is the same when playing again with different characters.

VERDICT

A potentially enjoyable and humerous puzzle-adventure game which is hampered by nasty touch controls and constant backtracking.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

The Cave is a funny game about horrible people. You take control of three out of a possible seven playable characters who enter the cave in search of what they desire most. The Cave itself is the game's main character, providing narration and offering insights to the adventurers as they descend further down, and engage in morally questionable actions in search of their goal.

At its core it's an adventure game by way of puzzle-platformer. The ultimate question, of course, is how this PC port has fared on its way to the App Store.

Everything is controlled via contest-sensitive touches. You tap to move, swipe to jump, and tap to interact with objects. Though we're glad the screen isn't littered with virtual buttons, the game gets easily confused by taps and gestures, and often misreads your inputs. Jumping is particularly bothersome, and many attempts to clear spikes pits will result in your character plunging to its demise. The constant stuttering and performance lag doesn't help matters either.

The characters are varied and entertaining, with each one gifted with its own special abilities. The knight, for example, can avoid falling to his death by sprouting angelic wings mid-fall, while the scientist can hack security equipment.

As enjoyable as the humour and the characters are, however, the puzzles themselves aren't all that engaging, with the game delivering more busywork than satisfying 'ah-ha!' moments. Also, as the puzzles usually involve wrangling all three members of your party, there's a lot of back tracking involved. And, if things go awry, often puzzle solutions will need to be reset to accomplish the final task to move on.

If you want to follow the stories of the other four characters after your first playthrough, you'll find yourself treading a lot of the same ground again. We suspect many players just won't enjoy the puzzles and controls enough to warrant a second playthrough. And, as enjoyable as some of the writing is, it's not enough to make up for the control issues and the lackluster gameplay.

Screenshots

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