Developer: EP Games
Publisher: EP Games
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Tested on: PS5
A Gummy’s Life – Review
We’ve seen a huge surge of party games over the last few years, and many of the bigger ones have left lasting impressions on the genre. We have scrambled many eggs in Overcooked, we have trashed many houses in Moving Out, while renovating houses in Tools Up. Many of these games ensured a lot of fun evenings, especially thanks to the great mechanics and the overall concept. In 2018 A Gummy’s Life was released on PC and enjoyed a few moments in the limelight. Now, with the PlayStation release of the game, we experienced our first battle royale while playing as a piece of candy. While the concept and visuals proved to be entertaining, the game itself was a complete disappointment.
Story
The game is void of any story content, and we cannot blame the developer for omitting any semblance of a story mode. There is nothing you need to know about the wacky cast of characters, as the game is all about duking it out in colorful arenas.
Graphics
Graphically the game is fairly fun to look at. While the visual quality will never push your PS5 system to the limit, we loved the many different character designs, the colorful skins, the bright arenas, and the inspiration that led to this all. We do have to mention that the game becomes an unclear mess the more players join the fray, but we reckon this is by design.
Sound
The sound design is very simplistic in this game. You’ll have a few tunes playing in the background and some generic sound effects, but nothing to truly write home about. The audio is mainly functional and does what it’s supposed to do. We did like the DualSense support where certain sounds play through the speakers of the controller, but this is also just a small gimmick to spruce things up.
Gameplay
A Gummy’s Life is a simplistic party game in which it’s the goal to be the last gummy standing (except when playing in teams). The concept is very simple, as you can just punch, kick, headbutt, and grab your opponents, hopefully pushing them outside the arena or onto hazards. The idea is solid, but the execution is frustratingly poorly handled. You never feel in control over your actions, and everything feels clunky and just not responsive. We do understand that clumsy controls are somewhat the shtick of many of these games, but in A Gummy’s Life it just feels like poor design and laziness. From start to finish, it feels as if all the effort went into the overall design and concept of the game, rather than the actual gameplay mechanics.
We did appreciate the local co-op action, but even with the game’s crossplay functions in play, we were never able to play online with other people (except for fellow writers that also owned the game). We believe that the asking price for this game is just simply too high. The game does have a reasonable number of arenas to choose from, but as matches only take a few minutes (max), you’ve seen all the content this game has to offer in one sitting. Asking 20 USD/EUR for a game with dead servers, hardly any content, and unpolished gameplay feels like a bit too much.
Conclusion
A Gummy’s Life is a game that looks funny when you watch other people play it, but when going through the motions yourself, it turns out to be a very bland and boring mess. While the colorful design may appeal to some, it’s the gameplay that will fall short of your expectations. You lack any semblance of control in the game, the mechanics are too limited, and everything just becomes boring and repetitive very soon. Add the poor oversight of the arenas to the mix and the deserted servers, and you’ve got yourself a frustrating mess that sets you back 20 USD/EUR.
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