Out of the blue Elle and I were approached to try out a game called FORZA POLPO, It looked kinda cute, and I figured why the hell not, I don’t usually play a lot of cute games, so I should probably give it a try and I went ahead and installed the game.
I’ll be honest, didn’t have a whole lot of expectations going in. I saw that it was a first-person platformer shooter with a cute robot, and that was all I was expecting, something colorful, a silly game, maybe some cute animals.
Also it’s worth mentioning FORZA POLPO is an early access game so I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of the mechanics themselves. So I booted up and was immediately met with the almost complete and total eradication of the human race because of some pink stuff.
This is a preview coupled with a supplemental video preview. You can watch the video preview or read the full preview of the game below.
FORZA POLPO
Developer: MONTE GALLO
Publishers: MONTE GALLO
Platform: Windows PC (Previewed)
Release Date: November 24, 2021 (Early Access)
Players: 1
Price: 16.99
Even the menu in FORZA POLPO is kinda cute. You’re put immediately into the shoes of some person, probably yourself, and you can look around, see the controls on one monitor, see all the things around your desk, see your Polpo’s diagnostics, and see your achievements which are along the top shelf.
The focus on your Polpo’s diagnostics become important in later levels as you’ll need to disconnect and repair your robot as you progress through the various levels and environmental hazards.
After selecting a level and connecting to your Polpo, you roll, float and jump around a disheveled environment listening to some banging city pop-like music, while your handler instructs you over the radio and lets you know that everything has gone to hell. The developers have put a lot of thought into the environment.
This attention to detail is evident from the inclusion of the environmental instruction pieces. They don’t interrupt the gameplay with message prompts and it’s all very organic and I damn well appreciate it.
Very quickly I knew how the game was played. Polpo runs on pink energy; running jumping, and shooting depletes it. Shoot pink things to make more pink energy, eat pink, or fall fast to recharge the battery. Each level has 3 code blocks you need to collect to complete the level.
Levels are pretty wild in FORZA POLPO. Set in a world on the brink of destruction, it’s easy to assume the developer had a lot of fun coming up with neat level designs.
From broken beaches to torn apart water parks, each level has a uniquely crafted feeling where each level asset serves a purpose. The platforming really shines in these levels as you traverse the ever more challenging terrain to each codeblock.
There’s a lot of cute, charming little easter eggs to each level’s such as this secret “soccer” thing you can do, which I honestly found absolutely lovely.
As you would expect the levels get more and more difficult, but there is a massive difficulty spike in the 7th level that really challenges you to not only ration your energy, but to also plan ahead for the highest score.
The mechanics in FORZA POLPO are actually pretty tight. Shooting is responsive though the energy bullets have parabola, so you need to account for that.
As you jump you are able to sort of float around and but it’s not too floaty. The triple jump does take a bit to learn, but the second level of the game is dedicated to teaching you the nuances of the technique and when you’ve gotten it down – it’s pretty fun to do.
There are some downsides to FORZA POLPO, the enemies get to be kind of hard to see in some environments, the bullet trajectory makes shooting at range pretty difficult, and sometimes shrubbery and particle effects can cloud your vision so much you lose the sense of direction if you are looking up and down.
If you want a good time killer and you’ve got a spare $17 laying around, I’d pick up FORZA POLPO, I have a feeling that down the line the game will become a lot better. Who knows, maybe we’ll see community made maps. I’d say FORZA POLPO is decent in its current state, it’s a cute game with a neat concept and decent controls but I’d like more variation in the enemy types or for them to be easier to see.
FORZA POLPO is now available on Windows PC (via Steam).
