Developer: Infinite Monkeys Entertainment Ltd.
Publisher: Infinite Monkeys Entertainment Ltd.
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4
Tested on: PC
Life Goes On: Done to Death – Review
Life Goes On: Done to Death is all in the name, it’s a game format that’s been done to death, but still life goes on. The game doesn’t really innovate, but just does what needs to be done. Sometimes innovation isn’t necessary to make a good game and sticking to the basics is all that’s needed. Life Goes On: Done to Death has several awards under its belt. The game completely deserves the awards it has won.
Story
You are one of a vast swathe of knights looking for the Cup of Life. The beautiful irony comes when you have to sacrifice several perfectly healthy knights to get to said Cup. On your way to uncovering all of them you’ll have killed vast armies of them. Every character you play as has a different name and/or rank and even though you don’t really have any background information on any of the characters, seeing them die, knowing just their name still gives you a twinge of remorse as they pave the path to the cup. The achievements you unlock as you progress through the game commemorate the fallen. Millicide being the biggest genocidal wake up call as you play through the game. To get this, you’ll have ‘squandered one thousand knights’.
Few of their sacrifices are in vain. As you progress through the levels, the story unfolds and you can read it on the scrolls above and beneath the path you uncover as you finish the levels.
Graphics
One of the awards granted to the game is: ‘Best Character Design’. Life Goes On: Done to Death has gotten this award in the ‘Intel Level Up Game Demo Contest’. It’s warranted as when you complete levels, you’ll unlock different pieces of armour and weaponry.
This will be randomized every time a character is created. So nearly every character you spawn will be slightly different. The characters themselves are rather simplistic, but they are also rather cute and even though they have donned their armour, they still feel like they are up for the task.
The level design starts off simple and overseeable, but as the game progresses, the levels and thus the puzzles become more and more complex. So look before you leap is certainly necessary at moments.
Sound
The music of Life Goes On: Done to Death is a quaint ditty. It’s a rather upbeat song and it keeps the tone of the game light. Sure you are killing off your own men at an unhealthy unwise pace, but the scope of the act won’t fully get to you. One of the things the game could do is make the sountrack eerie and dark, but that would make the game too oppressive and would detract of the overall experience.
Gameplay
Life Goes On: Done to Death is a puzzle platformer by Infinite Monkeys Entertainment Ltd. The arrow keys or W,A,S,D will propel your character in the appropriate direction. The point of every level is to get to the ‘Cup of Life’ somewhere on the level. If you want to a perfect score, you’ll have to keep the death toll to a minimum as every level has an ‘on par’ kill counter and an equal counter.
In the beginning of the game you’ll be acing the levels without much trouble, but as the levels progress the difficulty to get a perfect score jumps. This makes it so that if you want to perfect every level, you’ll have to redo the levels A LOT. This might seem like a complaint, but it shows that the game rewards the persistent. Play the level over and over again, and you might shave off a second and spare the life of a knight and be on or under par for the level.
The characters are donned with armour and weaponry, but those are just for show, so they are just sacrificial material. So don’t think combat will be a part of the game. Life Goes On: Done to Death, is all about the puzzles and sacrifice. The characters you control are the perfect example of how people should work together for the greater good, well minus the heaps of people dying of course. What works perfectly, and is key in these kinds of games is the physics.
If these are even just a little bit skewed, the enjoyment of the puzzles is down the toilet as solving the puzzles becomes more frustrating. You’ll know what you have to do and do it perfectly only for the physics to screw you over. Thank goodness that this won’t be happening in Life Goes On: Done to Death.
Conclusion:
What starts off as an easy puzzle platformer with a rather morbid streak, soon becomes a difficult, tough as nails game that really rewards persistence. You’ll get enjoyment if you finish a level and if you perfect it. So that’s twice the fun for the same price. Speaking of the price, it really is a steal with the amount of gameplay the developers have put into the game.
Life Goes On: Done to Death - Review,
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