Another for the GotY discussion
Some years back and a friend of mine who I no longer talk to had put me onto an animated show called Primal. We both were big Samurai Jack, Dexter Laboratory fans so I was on board, but what made this particular show so unique wasn’t who was making it; but how. Primal tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a Neanderthal and a T-Rex, the unique thing was this show is presented with no dialogue. Imagine that, in a world where we have no attention span, comes a show that you HAVE to watch to understand. Story is told through context, facial reactions, grunts and sounds, it was a fantastic show. Now, imagine that same type of storytelling, no dialogue but instead it’s a video game. That’s what Theropods is, and it works better than I imagined it would.
MSRP: $17.49
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $17.49
In a lot of ways Theropods is very similar to Primal, in Theropods players will play as a young woman living in a prehistoric world. There are no walls of text or dialog heavy exposition, instead players will have to engage in visual storytelling, reading the situation on how best to proceed. What starts off as a dinosaur hunt for the young woman and her village, is quickly turned into despair as a glowing stone crashes from the sky into their homes. With its arrival another warring tribe has attacked and begins to enslave her people. When she discovers the true origin of the space stone, she will have to work together with a stranded spaceman in order to free her tribe and help send him home.
Besides the lack of any subtitles or dialog the other big thing to know about Theropods is that it’s a point-and-click adventure game. That means that players won’t be running and jumping while slaying dinosaurs as if their name was Turok. Instead, it chooses a ‘brains over brawns’ approach, players will have to outsmart dinosaurs, set traps for barbarians and more. As a man who grew up on the likes of Sam & Max, the Monkey Island games and of course Leisure Suit Larry, I was well versed in this gameplay. It was really refreshing to play a game that was slower pace but still delivered on tension and action. I will confess that one early section stumped me, as players are hunting a dinosaur. And even after I was able to figure out who to set the trap, I couldn’t figure out how to get the dino there. Luckily Theropods offers a hint system, when players press H on the keyboard the game will highlight anything interactive with a little red dot.
I love the gameplay and storytelling that developer Lost Token was able to deliver with Theropods but it’s got some simply gorgeous pixel art as well. According to the devs all of it is hand-drawn and as good as it looks in stills, it’s even better in motion. Standing on a cliff overlooking the village, the grass blowing in the wind was such a serene and beautiful sight. The soundtrack is another area that I feel I’d be remiss in not mentioning, it has a perfect blend of tribal beats and sci-fi synth.
Theropods surprised me in a lot of ways. I went into the game knowing nothing about it but finding a lovingly crafted point-and-click game that harkens back to the some of the best of the 90’s. With top notch audio design and fantastic visuals the developers manage to tell a story with lots of depth and heart without using any dialog, subtitles or wall of text. Theropods is a game that demands your full attention and doesn’t disappoint you once it has it.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
