Review - Grand Theft Froot
- Details
- Category: XBLIG
- Published on Wednesday, 05 October 2011 21:49
- Written by Rick B.
Developer: Frooty Game Studios
Website: http://www.frootygamestudios.com/
Platform: XBLIG
Cost: 80 MSP
Grand Theft Froot proves once again that a game doesn't need to be graphically impressive to impress.
The Advanced Weapons Research Corporation is company playing with fire. They have been creating biological creatures by using a precious resource called Froot. Froot is the lifeline of AWRC and you, the clown shoe-d protagonist, have been tasked with stealing all of it from them. This task isn't easy though as security measures hinder progress at every turn. Cannons, falling spikes, lava, barriers, and of course, a multitude of enemies. You are kept abreast of your current progress via communications from HQ, but a mysterious source frequently hacks into the system in an attempt to tell you things may not be what they seem. There are 40 levels(plus 4 tutorial levels) in Grand Theft Froot and the developer has done an excellent job at stringing along the simple storyline through the entirety of the game. Like any good game, things don't really become clear until the final levels.
Grand Theft Froot seems like a typical side-scrolling affair and in many ways it is. Platforming, shooting enemies in the face, coin collecting, it's all there. However, Frooty Game Studios have added a few extra chemicals to the formula. It may not be an original idea, but a stringent leveling system brings life to what otherwise might be a dull plod through Grand Theft Froot. Each level gained grants you 2 points to spend on increasing health, increasing damage, increasing your laser pistol's charge, or increasing jump height. Much like indie gem, Iji, each point spent is very important. Don't have enough health and you won't survive long; don't have enough agility and you may not be able to make the jumps in the next level. Thankfully, there is an option to go back and grind for levels, but I can't see anybody wanting to do so despite some complex and interesting level design. One of the other welcome additions are three permanent items that can be bought with collected coins. Each one becomes vital to your survival in later levels. Health packs can also be bought to auto-restore a portion of your health upon death.
That brings me to the game's frustrating difficulty. Hard games are hard games, but Grand Theft Froot skips passed hard and into an annoying level at times, especially before the patches were released. Most of this frustration comes from the cannons I mentioned earlier. These cannons don't shoot on an interval, it's random. Maybe it's just my luck, but they'd shoot every time I was trying to jump a gap. Thus, making me fall and have to platform back to where I was, only for it to happen again. There are also enemies who bum rush you so fast you don't have a chance to kill them quickly enough. What's worse is any time you get hit, your character is knocked backwards; usually resulting in you falling off the platform you were standing on/jumping to. However, since the game's release, there have been patches that have alleviated much of the frustration. The most important being the ability to shoot the cannons to briefly stop their fire. It's also easier to gain coins as you no longer lose them if you die during a level. A myriad of other changes have also helped make the game a more manageable monster.
In the graphics department, Grand Theft Froot isn't going to win any “Best in Art” awards. Many of the visuals look like they were made in MS Paint, and others repeat in a pattern that, if stared at long enough, seem blend into one of those 3D puzzles you have go cross-eyed to see. Yet there is an odd charm about it all. Not quite like the 8-bit nostalgia felt when playing the many retro throwbacks, but close. That's not to say it's all bad though. There is nice detail in some of the enemies and foreground elements. Plus, most of the audio is quite well implemented.
Yet through all of the frustration, I enjoyed my time with Grand Theft Froot. Ignore the obvious title reference and the graphics, and you have a solid action platformer that will get on your nerves but is worth sticking through to the end. When that is complete, you can try your hand at even more difficult challenge levels. Good luck!
Trailer
Grand Theft Froot was provided for review by Frooty Game Studios
