A platformer game with short playtime and bland levels. It feels too similar to other games while offering less content.
Type: Single-player
Genre: Platformer
Developer: leFarfelu
Publisher: leFarfelu
Release date: 17 Aug, 2020
Intro
Obsolete lets you experience a monochrome world with no purpose. You’ll travel around the area, dodging all obstacles along the way, to find out what’s happening to the world.
Graphics
The game looks detailed while not being detailed at the same time. It uses basic shapes to shape its environment with additional details such as bricks and grasses to make it more unique. The use of monochromatic color also fits well with the story theme, which I won’t spoil due to obvious reasons. However, some obstacles such as spikes and jumping pads are not obvious enough – the spikes might not be noticeable to some people due to their dim color and the jumping pads look too similar to other platforms.
Story
The story only serves as an extra for the game. Short notes are scattered throughout the levels to give you an idea of what’s happening to the world. The game has an ending scene, but it was confusing since it never tells us what the character was doing. The story will be clearer if you read the extra notes although it’s still lacking details and feel unpolished as a whole.
The Game
Gameplay
Just like any other platformer games, your goal is to avoid any obstacles and reach the exit. Short and simple tutorials are provided at the first level, which acts as an introductory level in the game. Levels are easy in the beginning, to the point that there isn’t anything you need to do except for walking and pushing blocks. It makes the first few levels to be boring, especially with the slow walking speed.
Levels will progressively become harder that you need to time your jump to clear them. Although the difficulty is still manageable, checkpoints are available most of the time, allowing you to retry the area again in case you failed. However, they need to be activated manually before you can use them.
Some levels have more than one exit, ruining the intended experience of the harder path. Secrets, which are available at some levels, will also lead to an alternative exit. However, these exits tend to be easier than the intended path, even skipping the harder routes in the level. While it might take some time to find these hidden paths, it makes the harder routes to be used less due to its difficulty.
Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 35 minutes and spent 18 more minutes retrieving all secrets. The rest of my playtime was spent obtaining an achievement where you had to finish the game without dying. It took me several tries to beat it, mostly because some levels require you to get used to dodging several cannon bullets that are shot at you. While it wasn’t that hard once you get used to it, it’s still annoying to redo everything from scratch if you die – I felt like there is no reason to add this achievement except for extending the game’s playtime.
Problems
The slow, unskippable animation when you start the game takes a lot of my time when I was trying to get the no death achievement.
Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Verdict
The game feels more like a flash game with its simple visual and straightforward gameplay. However, the short playtime makes the game feel more like a demo than an actual game. Although I didn’t particularly dislike the game, I didn’t feel anything good about the game either, which I find important in short games like this. Adding more challenging levels might work better to add more spice to the game, although I’m not sure whether it will be enjoyable or not with the game having a no death run achievement. Since you can get better quality games with the same price range such as LIMBO on sale, I think it’s better not to recommend the game as of now.
