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“Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure” is an interesting concept: sentient, self-delivering mail boxes staging a civil war; Newbie’s mission is to stop the Wild Cards from taking over the world…of delivery!
The gameplay is very satisfying for most part in “Unbox”. Furthermore, most of the game is truly innovating as well.
Previous boxes such as Bounce, a friendly red mentor, and Dash, a straw chewing cowboy, witness Newbie’s birth from the ‘Box-O-Matic’ and guide him on his journey. This 3D platformer is straight out of the 90s, with less-than-modern polish.
“Unbox is a retro-inspired physics platformer about rolling cardboard boxes” – Yes, that’s the actual game description and plot. Nevertheless, don’t get fooled by the simplicity of the game, because “Unbox” is much deeper than you think.
Unbox’s gameplay is absorbing, much like the cardboard Newbie is made of. Once I reached the first level, I sat up hours later and wondered where the time had went.
Initially, Newbie’s square hitbox made movement unnatural. However, once I adapted to the occasional jerks and bounces from catching corners on the environment, controlling Newbie was a blast!
Split Screen local multiplayer, retro!
Another reason I could not stop playing is the octuple jump Newbie has access to – you can jump once, bounce off water once, then Unbox up to six times!
Unboxing lowers Newbie’s health but allows him to jump further. Unboxing over large distances is extremely satisfying. Thinking outside the box has paid off!
Make no mistake, “Unbox” is a very action intense 90s style 3D platformer.
Graphically, Unbox is almost flawless. Avoiding taking a Minecraft-style approach to making everything boxy, Prospect Games designed its characters geometrically and its vibrant environments semi-realistically. Other than that, frame drops were few, and tolerable.
There’s a handful of different game modes to be enjoyed in “Unbox”. Such as “Boxing” (shoot fireworks and avoid water), “Collect” (those who grab the most tape wins), “Thief” (steal coins like there is no tomorrow) and “Oddbox” (Become the most wanted all while avoiding the hunters).
As for the main character, Newbie begins life as a beige box, but can be customised to your heart’s content. Taking on the roles of his friends or making up your own costumes only adds to the cute visuals Prospect Games have created.
“Unbox” sports a really awesome and cool soundtrack.
Unbox’s missions mostly take full advantage of Newbie’s move set. For example; some missions involves driving a variety of vehicles. Unfortunately, these vehicles feel as bad to drive as Newbie’s movement feels good…
It’s also worth pointing out that the rumoured optimisation issues may explain why “Unbox” seemed to demand more of my PC than other games with higher fidelity. Regardless, my PC was comfortable in rendering the game on Ultra settings at a steady 60fps.
There are over 40,000 combinations of hats, clothes, accessories and funny faces to be found in “Unbox”.
Anyways, like all good 3D platformer collectathons, “Unbox” is littered with collectibles. You see, each level has 200 Golden Tapes to collect, boxes to free and stamps to collect.
In the case of the Golden Tapes, I found them to be too easily collected. In several cases, I collected five in the space of seconds. Having a high concentration of collectibles means that the reward for finding them is lessened.
“Unbox” is with no doubt a really great and fun 3D platformer. However, the physics are somewhat wonky, and the vehicle controls leave a lot to desire.
Nevertheless, “Unbox”, while having creased corners, is still a pure pleasure to play. So if you want to play a fun and brilliant 3D platformer, then “Unbox” is the game for you.
Pros:
+ Satisfying gameplay, mostly
+ Unboxing is innovating
+ Awesome music
+ There is a lot of stuff to do and experience
Cons:
– Wonky physics
– Unwieldy vehicle controls
– Excessive collectibles
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound and music: 4/5
Controls: 4/5
Replay value: 4/5
Verdict: 4/5
“Unbox” is a majorly brilliant game with minor flaws that left me feeling anything but cardbored. So if you’re into 90s-like 3D platformers, then you should give “Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure” a go for sure.
Title: Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure
Developer: Prospect Games
Format: PC
Genre: 3D platformer
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Release date: 2016-09-05
Difficulty: Easy
Spent time: +10 Hours
Average grade internationally: 90% (Very Positive, Steam)
PEGI age rating: 3
Price: £14.99 via Steam
Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor
Liam Hobbs
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @LiamJHobbs
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Tags: Indie games, Newbie's Adventure, PC Gaming, PC review, Prospect Games, Unbox, Unbox: Newbie's Adventure
