Developer: Hypergryph
Publisher: Gryph Frontier
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
POPUCOM – Review
When POPUCOM first appeared on our radar, we were under the impression that this was Splatoon and Astro Bot’s lovechild. The game appeared to have character designs reminiscent of Nintendo’s colorful IP, along with platforming mechanics and the same goal as Sony’s adorable robot adventurer. While we perhaps were mildly correct when it came to some minor elements, POPUCOM manages to stand tall on its own two feet. We had a blast, and this might be one of the more memorable co-op titles we have played in a while.
Story
POPUCOM’s story is a bit vague, as you’re basically being introduced as adventurers from another world who are being summoned to take out a great evil. You and your ally are being transported to a station that’s called the Pancake, which is currently helmed by Captain Yolkie, who works for the Doctor. Yolkie tells you the Doctor is gone and that the fate of the world is left in your capable hands. It seems the planet is under attack by a dark entity that keeps spawning Pomus, which are colorful, hostile creatures. You’ll be given a Rainbow Popper that can blast these critters into oblivion, while also looking for Goodiebots that can help you assemble a missile to take out the big evil entity in the sky. It’s a bit of an information dump with different terms and names being thrown around, but it’s still a fairly basic plotline for a game such as this. It’s the standard hero saves the world kind of story, which is perfectly fine for a game such as this.
Graphics
As a whole, POPUCOM is a very cute-looking puzzle-platformer that shares some resemblances to the aforementioned Splatoon and Astro Bot IPs. This doesn’t mean that this adorable action-packed title is a rip-off, as it very much isn’t. POPUCOM may share a few features, but it manages to create its own visual identity that has a lot of charm. The main characters look cutesy, and there are quite a few cosmetics you can unlock to customize the player characters further. The colorful cast of enemies all have distinct designs, giving proper visual feedback on how you can beat them. Bosses have cool and unique designs, and the same counts for all the original puzzles you can find in all of the levels.
If we really have to complain about POPUCOM’s visual identity is that the themed levels feel a bit useless. There are clear indications that you’re playing in a desert-themed level or a sub-zero frozen area, but only when looking at the backgrounds. All of the levels in POPUCOM take place on the same metallic-looking platforms, and nothing is being done with the actual background themes. There is no quicksand in the desert level, no frozen platforms in the ice level, no swimming in the water level, and so on. We found this a shame, but the background variety is still nice, nonetheless.
Sound
The sound design of POPUCOM is great. While there is no voice acting present, the game has an outstanding soundtrack and satisfying SFX. The upbeat and adrenaline-infusing music makes boss battles a lot more intense, while the popping noises of matching three colors add a hint of nostalgia to the mix. We would have loved a bit of voice acting for the dialogues, but it’s not uncommon for games like this to only rely on audible gibberish instead of voice acting.
Gameplay
POPUCOM is an action-packed puzzle-platformer with a very satisfying gameplay loop. As this is a co-op title, all levels are designed to be tackled by two players, and so you’ll have to work together to climb platforms, cross gaps, defeat enemies, and so on. The game starts out extremely easy and ramps up the difficulty gradually, for the most part. There are some noticeable difficulty spikes where the puzzle design gets really complex and where enemies suddenly deal a lot of damage. Luckily, some accessibility options help you with auto-aim or even negate taking damage. The latter is great if you just want to focus on the puzzles and the platforming instead of the combat. POPUCOM also has a party mode that allows up to four players to play together, but sadly, due to a lack of players, we were unable to properly try out this mode.
All in all, it’s a blast playing POPUCOM with a friend. We were impressed by the overall puzzle variety that makes use of all the gadgets you find in the earlier levels of the game. One of the game’s gimmicks is also that each character has two colors assigned to them, between which you can swap freely. Some enemies will have to be dealt with by shooting them with certain colored bullets, while others require other ones. Your ally will have to do the same. Platforms can also be color-coded, as well as ramps and other obstacles. While some puzzles take some time to figure out, there’s nothing so satisfying as figuring it out together with some trial and error. The only thing we found a bit too hard at times was spotting collectible stickers. Even when looking around almost everywhere, we often managed to miss one or two in the later levels. Luckily, you can do some backtracking by going back to previous checkpoints. Even when you hunt all the collectibles, you should be able to finish the game in roughly seven or eight hours.
The game supports both controller and keyboard and mouse controls. We are still unsure which we liked best, as mouse and keyboard allowed us to shoot at targets more easily and adjust our camera quicker, while the controller set up made certain precision puzzles easier and made platforming a tad easier as well. In the end, it boils down to personal preference. We loved the fact that the game properly supports both options, which is also a plus if you don’t own two controllers but want to play locally with a friend.
Conclusion
POPUCOM is an absolute blast to play with a friend, and we only regretted it being over so quickly. While the game may look a bit childish, it actually puts your gray matter to the test for some of its puzzles. We loved the action, the overall stage designs, and the polished two-player co-op gameplay. It’s only a shame that the themed levels didn’t make use of said themes by introducing special obstacles to the mix. Even so, the latter is only a small blemish on an otherwise spotless experience. If you’re a fan of titles such as Split Fiction or It Takes Two, then be sure to check this one out for your next co-op session(s).
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