Octodad: Dadliest Catch is like a playable cartoon. While the game was made part-time on a budget of $24,000, it looks and sounds professional enough that a bigger budget really isn't necessary. It looks like a cartoon (albeit a lower-end one), and with its lyrical theme song that plays after the first scenario, and full voice acting, it has the presentation of one.
The gameplay is both simple and challenging. Octodad is an octopus in a business suit who is trying his best to pass himself off as a completely normal human being. The game's controls don't make that easy. Using a controller, I had to use two sticks (one for horizontal planes, and one for up/down and left/right movement) to control whichever tentacle I was in control of, alternating between the LT and RT buttons to walk by controlling the left and right "leg" tentacles.
The simple act of pouring a glass of milk in your (inexplicably human) daughter's cup becomes a slapstick comedy of errors. Not only are the controls odd, but they're also slippery - Octodad's tentacles wobble and flop in the direction that you push them, so any precision movement is impossible. The mere act of trying to drink a cup of coffee could result in you accidentally smacking your wife before throwing coffee in your face. Walking down the aisle to get married could easily result in you knocking over vases decorating the aisle. Climbing a ladder on a playground involves manually positioning each "leg" tentacle one at a time on the ladder as you try to flop your way up, and it's easy to fall off or throw yourself into the air.
With physics in video games mostly being used to make shooting games more violent by showing the chaos that can come from gunshots and explosions, it's good to see a company that recognizes that clean, family-friendly physical comedy can come from this technology. The whole game is totally clean - no profanity, no real violence, and it's nice to see that despite being indie, the developers didn't indulge in inappropriate stuff just for the sake of doing so. The game is hilarious to watch and to play on its own, as the sheer absurdity of its premise and the comedy of an octopus in a suit flopping around attempting to accomplish basic everyday tasks is a riot. It's short, but creative, original, and well-designed.
Physical comedy in video game form
Octodad: Dadliest Catch is like a playable cartoon. While the game was made part-time on a budget of $24,000, it looks and sounds professional enough that a bigger budget really isn't necessary. It looks like a cartoon (albeit a lower-end one), and with its lyrical theme song that plays after the first scenario, and full voice acting, it has the presentation of one.
The gameplay is both simple and challenging. Octodad is an octopus in a business suit who is trying his best to pass himself off as a completely normal human being. The game's controls don't make that easy. Using a controller, I had to use two sticks (one for horizontal planes, and one for up/down and left/right movement) to control whichever tentacle I was in control of, alternating between the LT and RT buttons to walk by controlling the left and right "leg" tentacles.
The simple act of pouring a glass of milk in your (inexplicably human) daughter's cup becomes a slapstick comedy of errors. Not only are the controls odd, but they're also slippery - Octodad's tentacles wobble and flop in the direction that you push them, so any precision movement is impossible. The mere act of trying to drink a cup of coffee could result in you accidentally smacking your wife before throwing coffee in your face. Walking down the aisle to get married could easily result in you knocking over vases decorating the aisle. Climbing a ladder on a playground involves manually positioning each "leg" tentacle one at a time on the ladder as you try to flop your way up, and it's easy to fall off or throw yourself into the air.
With physics in video games mostly being used to make shooting games more violent by showing the chaos that can come from gunshots and explosions, it's good to see a company that recognizes that clean, family-friendly physical comedy can come from this technology. The whole game is totally clean - no profanity, no real violence, and it's nice to see that despite being indie, the developers didn't indulge in inappropriate stuff just for the sake of doing so. The game is hilarious to watch and to play on its own, as the sheer absurdity of its premise and the comedy of an octopus in a suit flopping around attempting to accomplish basic everyday tasks is a riot. It's short, but creative, original, and well-designed.