This has gotta be some kind of record!  I only reviewed the first game a few short months ago, and now there’s already a sequel?  But it’s pretty much more of the same.  This time you play as a thing that looks more like the eggplant men in Wrecking Crew with a walking stick, and your job is to guide him around isometric diorama mazes to reach an exit block.  Kind of reminds me of Captain Toad or those isometric adventure games you would see a lot on British computers in the 80s (or like Solstice on the NES).  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

To make your guy move, you’ll point a cursor at the screen and if you click on a spot he can reach, he’ll walk there.  There are also sliding blocks and if you highlight those and hold down a button, you can slide them around, usually making a path for your character to ride on or across.  The challenge comes from figuring out how to get to the exit using visual and spatial skills, as many paths take you from one side of the level to another and you might not always see exactly where to go.  You’ll finish the level when you make your character stand on the exit block.

I had a few problems with this game.  One is that I wish you could control the character directly, as the point and click nature makes it feel more slow and plodding.  But I guess that would make it hard to control when you can’t always see the path you take.  You can rotate the levels in four directions, but I also wish you could move the camera up and see what the level looks like from a higher angle.  And the game doesn’t give you any instructions on how to play, but I did see button cues and knowing what to do in the first game helped.  Because of all this, I lost interest in this one pretty quickly.  I’d rather just play Captain Toad.

Kid Factor:

O.W.L Projekt 2 is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  I didn’t really notice anything violent when I played, so it must be very mild.  Reading skill isn’t needed, but younger gamers may need help.

Tags: Game Reviews