Written by: Simone
As an homage to the fast paced feel of this game, I’m going to skip the pleasantries and jump straight into the review. CYBARIAN – The Time Travelling Warrior definitely does what it says on the tin. You play as a barbarian warrior, zipped across time to a cyberpunk dystopia upon finally laying hands on a magical sword – much to the dismay of some nearby hobos! The Sword of Ages was definitely something worth writing a scripture about back in 409 AD and without it, you’d be toast.
It’s rapid, it’s retro and comes with all the tense frustration of an old arcade game without emptying your pockets for one last attempt before closing time.
Developed by two-man-band developer Ritual Games (who also released Paradox Soul and Death Fungeon on Steam this year), the game was successfully backed on Kickstarter and those who pledged benefited from some cool custom graffiti and wanted posters in-game.
Gameplay
So it’s a side-scrolling, 2D adventure platformer. Pretty simple but effective when well executed, which in many ways this is. However, the word ‘punishment’ comes to mind. To elaborate, like a lot of good platformers, this game likes you to learn from your mistakes and if you don’t learn fast, you’ll find yourself forever whacking the tutorial hobos out of frustration. This game is not at all shy about introducing new mechanics and enemies, so if you happen to be on the last of your lives when that happens then be prepared to say hello to the starting line again. That said, a lot of these elements are designed really well, and make sense if you give yourself time to look at them. If an enemy looks big and slow it probably is, but a bit more robust (and if it looks like a big red exclamation mark it probably wants you to move your barbarian butt!)
Once you complete a stage, you are confronted with a boss. Only then are blessed with being able to respawn at the start of the boss fight, instead of the whole stage. (Thank you Games Devs, from all my little red hearts, thank you). And again, once you beat that boss and reach a new stage you can consider that your new starting line… until you exit. There are no saves. Apparently they are not for winners.
The controls are simple enough to understand. All your actions and attacks are controlled by WASD, and movements by your arrow keys. My only gripe is pressing S to jump. When your hands are in standard WASD position it felt a bit like pressing down to go up as many other games use WASD as directional controls. The controls can not be reassigned to my knowledge, but if they could I’d be putting jump on the up arrow or space bar like I’m used to.
That said, the gameplay itself when you’ve got the hang of all this is fun, though frustrating. If you like a challenge, you’ll probably like this. I don’t usually go for platformer games but I thoroughly enjoyed this one, particularly the first boss. I took great joy in figuring out mechanics before they had chance to clobber me and it gave me a sense of determination. When I unlocked new moves and achievements, I really felt like I’d earned them. Another bonus – the collection of coins from boxes and enemies was not an arbitrary points system, it is actually useful! You can trade coins for hearts at designated points in the game (which I didn’t just love, I NEEDED).
As always with platformers, the key seems to be timing, patience and rolling away from the punches.
Graphics
To preface this, I love cyberpunk aesthetics so I was quite pleased with the graphics overall. Pixel art can always be a gamble these days, but in this case it consistently does what it is trying to do very well. It brought to mind “The Last Door” (The Game Kitchen), not because they are in any way similar, but because they are completely different despite both utilising pixel art design. To me, they are both prime examples of how much you can do with pixel art, and how a great designer can still create a vastly unique feel using similar tools. Yes it feels like a nod to retro and nostalgia, but it still feels like it’s own game.
Each stage in Cybarian is defined by its own look, but they all feel very much part of the same world, and you get such a clear picture of that world. The Barbarian himself screams of glam-rock with his lush hair, bandana, golden chains and the compulsion to run around topless. This is a stark contrast to the power-ranger style enemies, high-tech lasers and zany bubble-font graffiti backdrops. He doesn’t belong here, but you can’t help but root for the little guy. When you’re mashing concepts like this, it can be very easy to create something that feels off and out of place in a bad way. So I have to give kudos to Ritual Games, as the design of this game stands so well on its own and feels really well put together.
The UI is simple and functional, so it is very in-keeping with the essence of old arcade games. You have the option to play with or without scan lines depending on how retro you prefer your aesthetics which is a nice touch, but also allows the game to be more inclusive to those who struggle with their sight and need that strong contrast finish.
This is likely a problem with something on my end, but I did have some trouble with the graphics fracturing and blacking out sections which made it very difficult to play, but this seemed to resolve when I hooked it up to my TV via HDMI cable.
Audio
The audio in this game could have been ripped straight from a classic and you’d never know. The funky chiptune music is constantly spurring you on, giving you the feel of urgency. You feel like you can, and should accomplish anything if you try hard enough. So even though those spikes came out of nowhere and you’ve been carted off back to the start, I found the music always made me want ‘just one more try’. The music was made specially for the game by Matt Kenyon, and I have to say they really nailed the retro feeling so a big well done to them. It’s exactly what it should be.
The sound effects are sourced from itch, Freesound, and Opengameart and those familiar swooshes and bings just take you back and work really well with the game itself. There is honestly only one sound in this game I could have done without, and it is the cue to proceed forward. When I’m trying to fill my boots with all the coins which have sprung out in all directions, I find the loud dinging noise does take a little bit of joy out of the reward. That said, it does play into the feeling that you can’t really stop which perpetuates through the whole game. No time to rest, you must move forward. So while it does my proverbial nut in, it serves a purpose and is still a clever use of audio.
Replay Potential & Value for Money
While I find it unlikely that I’d put myself through all those trials and tribulations again (except perhaps for a speed-run if I was feeling particularly insane) it is still what I would consider quite worth the money. Even if I don’t play it again myself, I think convincing friends to play it and watching them is sure to bring sadistic joy. £4.99 full price on Steam (at time of writing) really isn’t a lot to ask considering you can feel the love that went into this game. There are only 4 stages so it is a little short, but depending on how quick you master each stage, you could get some decent play time to it. I don’t think £1.25 per stage is unreasonable, but as you have to complete the whole game all in one sitting to reach the end, it might feel like it at first.
Ideally, it would be great if they brought out a sequel, where the protagonist perhaps travels to a different time period. For a game with time-travel in the title, there is a lot of untapped potential for the future. The game and sequel could then be sold as a great value bundle, and would make a nice gift for a retro game nut.
Look forward to more from this developer with Gun Crazy due out in January next year!
Conclusion & Score
70/100
Pros
- Sweet retro graphics
- Unique characters and world
- Pretty smooth gameplay
- True to its inspiration
- Chiptunes
- Classic platformer
- Fair value
- Balanced
- Challenging
Cons
- S to jump
- That darn dinging noise
- A little short
- No saves
The Gaming TechLits 