Sluggish warfare

Clid the Snail brings to mind some fond memories of another garden creature who battled minions with guns…good ole Earthworm Jim. And Clid follows in similar footsteps, oh there are differences to be sure. Namely Clid the Snail is a twin stick shooter, unlike Earthworm Jim which was primarily a side scroller, but its most unique thing is that players play as a snail. Not like your garden snails though, Clid has arms and legs and even a fairy like buddy named Belu who hangs out with him.

MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PlayStation
Price I’d Pay: $19.99

Clid is a free spirit who routinely defies the elders of the Snail Citadel; and routinely treks into the surrounding world. You see the world of Clid the Snail is broken up into animal citadels, it is unheard of for species to live or hang with those outside of themselves. The Snails are a peacefully people who really just want to be left alone but due to Clid defying them and angering the war like Slugs, now war is inevitable. In their hope to appease the Slugs, Clid is banished from his home and forced to make his way in the world with his gun and Belu for company; it’s here that the adventure starts and with that the problems.

While the world of Clid the Snail is a beautiful place, it is also a hostile one. It’s not long before Clid’s forced to use his gun to defend himself and while the movement and dodging in combat is alright, the actual guns and the act of firing them is an issue. Each of the guns that Clid is given feel underpowered, even those that have very bright and flashy effects. Further dampening the combat is that players receive no indicator that Clid’s shots hit the intended target. Sure, there’s the usual aiming laser that is common in top-down shooters but there is no sign of damage other than the creature finally falls dead. While not as big a deal in boss fights where players can see a health bar, unfortunately those fights have a number of problems all their own.

Very early into the adventure, Clid runs into a psychotic, pyromaniac rat named Ska, After the usual banter from bosses, the fighting ensues and frustration quickly sets in. First off Clid’s only weapon at this point is a semi-automatic rifle that can be charged to fire an enhanced shot. The arena is littered with bits of junk for cover, but it functioned about 50% of the time. Sometimes I would be protected from Ska’s flamethrower and others I would receive damage standing in the exact same spot. Which leads to the frustration, this game is hard. Combat is extremely difficult, misplacing a shot or not dodge-rolling at the right time can quickly spell doom for Clid. The unreliability of the items in the environment, mixed with the overall harshness of the difficulty just make the combat unenjoyable. Sadly, even after hours of gameplay it doesn’t get any better.

After some digging, I found that the indie developers at Weird Beluga focused on three design pillars for Clid the Snail “methodical and challenging combat, exploration and puzzles, and an emphasis on narrative.” The team found success with two of these three pillars, the exploration in Clid is quite enjoyable. Made even more so by the absence of a radar like system, I rather enjoyed the very old school approach. Even the story in Clid the Snail hit all the notes of comedy, tragedy and action on queue. But that combat… they absolutely NAILED the challenging part. It’s just a shame that it isn’t much fun and instead just feels like an exercise in futility at parts.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.