Developer: Weird Beluga Studio
Publisher: Koch Media, Gamera Nest S.L.
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5
Tested on: PS5
Clid The Snail – Review
Clid The Snail is one of those games that has been on our radar for a short while because of its interesting premise. We loved the early footage and were curious to see how the end product turned out. Now, the game has been released for the PlayStation family, with the PC release soon following suit. This game, with a battle-hungry snail in the lead, proved to have a lot of interesting components in dire need of some extra polishing. Even so, we quite liked the concept.
Story
Clid The Snail‘s storyline is quite simple but it does suit the overall theme of the game. You’ll be playing as Clid, an overeager snail that is hellbent on fighting the invading slugs. These slugs are trying to conquer every other form of life, gaining dominance over all the different species. Clid has been fighting back, much to the disapproval of the leading parties in the snail capitol. He gets exiled, with only his trusty friend, a firefly by the name of Belu, accompanying him on his bloody quest.
While the story may be superficial, it does create a likable plot for players to keep playing. Overall you’ll get snippets of information in-between bigger levels, but also during certain events of said missions/levels.
Graphics
Graphically we were left with very mixed feelings. At first glance, the game actually looks quite good and has a lot of interesting backdrops. Sadly, upon closer inspection, a lot of assets are very simply designed and the game has a lot of rough edges. For some reason, the developers are forcefully adding a sort of muddiness and fog to every area in the game, making it annoying to look at many of the game’s finer details. Throughout the entire playthrough, you’ll have the very annoying feeling as if your glasses are dirty, or if you have something slimy in your eye, as you never get a clear view of your surroundings. We would have rather had a clear view with shoddier details, than having to squint our eyes to actually see what is going on. The character designs are quite original, and as a whole, there are some nice ideas thrown into the mix.
Sound
In terms of sound design, Clid The Snail hits all the right notes. We were quite impressed with the cinematic backdrop that accompanies you from start to finish. The overall quality is high, and the sound effects also pack a proper punch. That being said, the gibberish voices they gave to many of the characters sound a bit annoying, especially since a lot of them sound like Jar Jar Binks in a blender.
A very honorable mention goes to the fact that the developers actually included music to play when highlighting the game on your PlayStation’s home screen. This is something big developers and publishers even tend to forget.
Gameplay
Clid The Snail is a top-down shooter in an Animal Kingdom-esque world, where slugs are trying to overthrow all other forms of life. You’ll be playing as Clid, an armed-to-the-teeth snail, who is adamant about taking on the slugs. The overall concept of the game is quite simple, as you just go from one point to another, disposing of those that cross your path, while upgrading your arsenal of weapons and basic stats in the process. That being said, a lot of items do feel a bit rough around the edges.
For the most part of the game, the controls feel a bit awkward. The game dons a traditional control scheme much akin to other twin-stick shooters. You’ll run around with the left stick while aiming with the right stick. Sadly, for some reason, they put the sprint and dodge function on the circle button, which means you’ll have to let go of the right stick, thus messing up your aim in the process. This is something that felt unnatural throughout the entire course of the game. On top of that, everything feels a bit slow and somewhat bland in terms of combat. You never truly feel in control and things just feel overly clunky. We would have loved to see a bit more fast-paced gameplay, in combination with tighter and more responsive controls.
The game does motivate you to press on, as you’ll unlock new weapons and gain better passive stats (HP and stamina). This does make you feel a bit more powerful as you go, but again, things feel a bit basic.
Conclusion
Clid The Snail is a fairly okayish top-down shooter, that has an interesting story and a proper soundtrack. Sadly, the game does feel very unpolished at times, and the graphical blur thrown on top of everything does make for gaming sessions where headaches may reign supreme. We did like what was on offer throughout the game’s campaign, but we would have loved some extra polishing, a bit of additional content, and of course, more fluid gameplay mechanics, as everything feels a bit sluggish.
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