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Flipping Death (PS4) – Death takes a holidayThe makers of Stick It To The Man return with a new adventure that brings LucasArts style comedy and puzzle-solving to modern gaming.Sequels are so prevalent now in video games that needing to explain what a game is about has become almost unnecessary. COD but with Battle Royale or Assassin’s Creed but in Ancient Greece is usually as complicated as anything ever needs to get, but with Flipping Death, and a reasonably high proportion of indie games, things become more difficult.
Flipping Death review – don't fear the reaper. Flipping Death (PS4) - Death takes a holiday. Flipping Death (PS4) – Death takes a holiday.
This is a follow-up to developer Zoink’s 2013 hit and although there are many similarities it’s not a sequel and has a completely different premise. And that alone we find immediately impressive.Flipping Death certainly uses a similar graphical style to Stick It To The Man, but even more extravagantly detailed – to the point where it’s genuinely one of the best-looking games we’ve seen all year. The stylised 2D graphics are absolutely gorgeous and presented with such verve and confidence you’d swear this actually was a big budget game. AdvertisementWhat’s even better though is that the visuals are used with purpose, to illustrate the peculiar position that heroine Penny finds herself in. Unceremoniously killed in the prologue, via her own misadventure, a mix-up in the land of the dead ends up with her covering for the Grim Reaper while he goes on holiday. At which point hilarity genuinely does ensueFlipping Death is essentially a mix between 2D platformer and something that vaguely resembles an old school LucasArts adventure game.
Which is to say that it’s focused around actual puzzles and not purely Telltale Games style dialogue. Penny takes to her new role surprisingly well and immediately starts trying to help out all the lost souls, who are unable to move on until their unresolved business in the living world is taken care of.This is where the game’s key gameplay gimmick (and its name) comes into play, as Penny is able to move between the two worlds at will by possessing a living person. When she does so the whole screen flips around 180 degrees, like something out of Paper Mario, and the dark gloomy world of the dead is suddenly replaced by the much more vibrant world of the living.It’s a great effect on a purely visual level but it also sets up a classic light/dark world mechanic where what you do in one affects the other. Often you’re just trying to clear the way in terms of platforming, but you also constantly have to go back and forth for inventory-based puzzles – finding objects and then trying to locate the person that can help you use them. Flipping Death (PS4) – the dead just want to get on with their livesWe’re trying to paint as positive a picture of the game as we can here but in truth we don’t think this quite lives up to the standards of its predecessor.
Although they’re certainly more involved than any comparable modern title, the puzzles are much simpler than anything in an actual LucasArts game. Plus, the characters are constantly giving away obvious clues even if you don’t look at the visual ‘hints’, which only just stop short of being complete solutions.A lot of the time there’s really not any doubt about where you need to go or what you need to do, and although at least it’s not very difficult the platforming is slow and clunky and not very fun. The game as a whole is enjoyable, but a lot of the specific details and mechanics feel disappointingly underdeveloped. AdvertisementThe biggest disappointment for us though, is the script.
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Both games are by comic book writer Ryan North, whose Unbeatable Squirrel Girl has always been a GameCentral favourite. Unfortunately though this is not one of his better efforts and it’s not nearly as funny as Stick It To The Man. There are some good lines, and the voice-acting is once again excellent, but a lot of the time it feels rather strained – as if it needed a couple of extra drafts to reach its full potential.The whole game feels like that though and so rather than the comedy classic that it might have been it’s more an amusing but quickly forgettable one. Zoink are clearly a talented studio though and we hope they give this general style of game a third try, because even if this isn’t quite as good as the first one it’s still flipping great.
In Short: A slight disappointment after the surprise hit of Stick It To The Man, but still one of the best modern day equivalents to LucasArts style comedy and puzzling.Pros: Fantastic 2D graphics and a great spin (literally) on the light/dark world mechanic. Amusing characters and great voiceovers.Cons: The puzzles lack complexity and the platforming is very basic.
The script is never quite as funny as it seems it should be.Score: 7/10Formats: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PCPrice: £15.99Publisher: ZoinkDeveloper: ZoinkRelease Date: 7th August 2018Age Rating: 12.
Reviewed by playing an on August 14, 2018Flipping Death is also available for and.Being dead isn't all that bad when Death itself grants you the power to possess the living. Flipping Death is certainly a unique and innovative adventure so put on your goth makeup and get ready for a crazy time! I guess I'll have to possess that bird and see what happens!Flipping Death tells the story of Penny, a young woman who loves Halloween and all things horror. Spoilers: she dies. Don't worry; it's within the first scene of the story but it's not how you would expect so at least you can look forward to that! Anyway, upon biting the dust, Death assumes that she must be a temp so she receives a Scythe and a cool new cloak that allow her to possess the living whether they're human or not. The gameplay involves traversing somewhat expansive 2D stages and possessing folks in order to control them.
Doing so requires collectible spirits that come in 3 varieties. Once you possess someone or something, the whole stage flips and you're now in someone else's head. Figuring out what they're capable of while reorienting yourself within the stage is great fun, especially when you make progress by performing a humorous action that really gets the ball rolling.The controls in Flipping Death are similar to your average 2D platformer as you run and jump around. There's little else to remember control-wise as the other actions primarily consist of warping with the scythe, interacting, and possessing.
Where the gameplay shines brightest is in its elaborate stages where you solve clever situations in order to progress through that stage's storyline or accomplish optional challenge missions. For example, you might use someone's tongue to lick up paint so you can change a boat's colour or have a sea creature blow air up at a character to move her to a point of interest. It's all very intricate and enjoyable stuff and the optional challenges are super-fun to figure out so there is a solid amount of replay value besides just working through the main storylines. Where's the fire, chief?As you can already tell, the sense of humour in Flipping Death is both dark and silly. It's the kind of game that'll definitely at least make you crack a smile as you play and some parts will even have you laughing out loud. To allow the humour to land as well as it does, the voice cast is superb and each actor portrays their character in a way that brings out their often quirky personalities.
If Flipping Death was just text-based and didn't have such a talented cast of actors then it definitely wouldn't be as funny as it is.Although Flipping Death sounds awesome so far, it does have a few less than ideal qualities. As with most games in this genre, you will come to points where you have absolutely no idea what to do to advance the story. Thankfully, there are hints that you can look at but they're just pictures. One was of a guy hitting a bowling ball with a tennis racket and I didn't realise that the doctor's office had a rack of bowling balls in it. So, if you don't pay attention then you may miss a small detail and get frustrated as a result.Finally, there is 2D platformer gameplay but there aren't any significantly challenging platforming segments. Sometimes, you have to lead creatures to certain spots or collect a bunch of stuff in time but it's all very easy and simple stuff.
I know it's primarily an adventure game but why put in platformer elements and not have any challenge whatsoever? That leads me to my next point; once you beat each stage (which takes about 5 hours) and complete the optional challenges, there really isn't anything else to do.
Great advice, Einstein.Flipping Death is an innovative and enjoyable game on many levels. Its intricate stages, fantastic sense of humour, and ridiculous scenarios make it a must-have game for anyone who enjoys these kinds of interactive experiences.
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