I see dead people...
Title: Riddled Corpses EX
Genre: Action, Shooter, Shoot-'Em-Up, Top-Down
Modes: Single-player/Local Coop
Developer: COWCAT
Publisher: COWCAT
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (reviewed) Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Xbox One
Release: Mar 2, 2019 (Switch)
Riddled Corpses is a twin stick shooter that is an homage to retro style 8 bit games. Couple that with great performance and addictive game play, Riddled Corpses is a nice addition on the Nintendo Switch.
The Tip and The Top
Riddle Corpses is easy to pick up and play, and you don’t need to be especially skilled to enjoy it. That’s not to say that there isn’t any skill involved or that the game isn’t challenging (because it is!). But the controls are very intuitive. The left stick controls your character while the right stick controls where you are shooting. The top shoulder buttons can be used to trigger the items you pick up: either a stopwatch or dynamite. The game is straightforward and with all the action that’s happening, it’s a good thing there aren’t any complicated controls, otherwise you’ll be looking down trying to figure out what to press and the next thing you’ll know...you’re dead.
Speaking of action, the game is actually what it states: riddled with corpses. As you complete wave after wave, one of the most impressive things about it is that with all the action that’s constantly happening, the game play doesn’t slow down, not one little bit. Performance is extremely important in this game, because as difficult as it is with all the enemies it throws at you, any dips in performance would ruin the experience. You’re going to die, a lot! Your deaths are not going to be because of the system or the game’s performance, but because you made a false move or got yourself cornered.
Another nice aspect of the game is its RPG elements. As you play through the level, the enemies will drop gold which can be used to level up your character, buy new ones, or even purchase new weapons. As your character levels up, the weapon that the character uses also increases in power. While it isn’t a deep RPG system, it works well in the game.
Besides the story mode, Riddled Corpses also features a survival mode and arcade mode. In the survival mode, you last as long as you can against waves of enemy hordes looking to take your life. One nice thing about the survival mode is that the progress you made in leveling up your character can be applied in the survival mode.
The other mode that is featured is the arcade mode. Much like the story mode, you take your character through the game, starting at the first stage. However, as you progress through the stage, you level up your character by picking up the level up item that appears. This adds an additional challenge since starting at level 1 is hard, especially if you are used to playing a character that you worked on leveling up in the story mode.
Both modes also feature local coop and leaderboards, a nice touch to add incentive to play both additional features.
Riddled Corpses is extremely addictive. Each run doesn’t last very long (especially if you die). After each run, you’ll find yourself saying, “Just one more run, I can do it”.
The Flip and The Flop
While the RPG elements are welcome, the grind to level up your character, or to buy new characters and weapons, can be tedious. For example, to unlock one of the characters, you need to get three other characters up to level twenty (and each of those three characters you need to unlock as well). The grind does give you a reason to keep playing long after you beat the story, but you certainly feel the grind trying to obtain all the unlockable characters and weapons.
This game is hard, and you are going to die a lot. That’s ok, you just have to
realize that in the beginning, when you start a new character you’ve just
unlocked, you need to start from level one again with that character. This means
that the character is going to be very weak. It’s part of the grind. For some
players, they enjoy the challenge. For others, it’s just more work. Go into the
game knowing that you’ll have to grind a lot (and die a lot) before you have a
character that is at full strength...and then do it all over again with a new
character you’ve recently unlocked.
Final Grade: A-
For those of you that enjoy games like Smash TV, this is a must-have. It’s
a perfect fit on the Switch. The addictive gameplay, the amount of different game
modes, and the sheer fact that this game performs so well on the Switch is a
marvelous feat, and is a must buy for fans of the twin stick genre.
Review copy provided by COWCAT
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