We have a quest to review every 79p game that comes out on the Xbox Store. As quests go, it’s hardly noble or heroic: no one will get a medal for it. But sometimes it can feel like we deserve one. A good example, Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game.
The first reactions to Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game are positive. It is a small game in size, with seventy levels spread over seven worlds. We don’t have to touch a calculator to know that’s about a penny per level, and few games can claim that.
It doesn’t look particularly bad either. Some of these 79p games are artistic tragedies, sketched in Paint by a dog with a mouse between its teeth. But Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game wisely uses its somber aesthetic to hide the rough edges. It’s not about taking second place in a beauty pageant, but it’s also above par for the average 79p game.
The opening levels also do their job. Up to about level twenty, there’s a simplicity that keeps things moving forward. You are a black blob with big eyes, a goomba in silhouette, looking for three stars so you can jump through a swirling portal. The first levels go through the moves, as spikes are introduced, then TNT barrels and spinning blades, and – sure – there isn’t even the tiniest bit of innovation. But it works, and it’s possible to find that dozens of levels have passed you by without actually turning on a brain cell.
It’s a shrug of the shoulders, but it’s harmless nonetheless. Yet it is a red herring. Oh boy, things get offensive.
Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game has a crippling save bug. We think we’ve figured out what’s causing it: if you quit (and you’ll stop furiously, oh yes, you will), instead of returning to the game’s menu, your progress won’t be saved. So turn off your Xbox or switch to another game, and you’ll be repeating everything since your last save. Which of course is a gamble. It’s why it takes us a few months to review a game that should have been done in an evening. Simply put, we couldn’t bear to replay large parts of Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game.
Why is it so bad? Once the difficulty starts to increase, the fault lines will appear and you can park a bus between them. First, there is a case of crippling collision detection. If you hold a pixel to a spinning blade, you will die and return to the beginning of the level without progressing. This may not have been a problem, but Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game then builds levels where there’s almost no slack in the jumps you’re trying to make. Each jump must be pixel perfect to unlock the next level.
Again, this might not have been a problem if the levels were interesting or fun, but they are terrible. They are simplistic constructs that our three-year-old could have made with DUPLO. The same level pieces are driven out multiple times over the course of the campaign, and any spark of interest is extinguished by level twenty. There is no reward for finally completing a level that only consisted of a few blocks and a few spikes.
Some levels are less in peaks and more interested in TNT barrels. They are also the least satisfying of the levels in Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game. Each barrel has a different effect, so these sections are less about platforms and more about memory, as you pick the right order to push. Why the TNT doesn’t destroy our little goomba, and why they blow up distant parts of the level we don’t know, but they are more infuriating than captivating. It’s a simple game of trial and error, but Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game keeps them going.
But the real kicker, the flaw that gets stuck in our throats and no amount of Heimliching comes out, is that luck plays such a big part in Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game. No doubt it is not luck: we pressed the jump button a millisecond too early, or ourselves a pixel away from the ideal jump pixel. But it certainly feels like luck, as Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game is determined to play by fine margins.
In one level we had to jump to a platform above us. Simple, and not exactly demanding. But out of a hundred times we’ve tried this jump – and it won’t turn that hundred – we’ve successfully reached the platform once. Once! We didn’t do anything differently that one time: we just happened to hit the exact timing and positioning needed to get there. Did it feel satisfying and satisfying? No. Did we ever want to play the level again? No. But we had to, because Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game didn’t save when we shut down the Xbox. You could hear the primal scream from a few provinces away.
Say ‘Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game’ to us, and an involuntary facial tic will sweep across our faces. This is not a game to play if you value your time or common sense. It’s a broken, masochistic little platformer that can’t even put a single achievement in our belt as an apology. It’s certainly impossible, and it made us really want to escape.
You can buy Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game at the Xbox store
We’re on a mission to review every 79p game that comes out on the Xbox Store. As quests go, it’s hardly noble or heroic: no one will get a medal for it. But sometimes it can feel like we deserve one. A good example, Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game. The first reactions to Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game are positive. It is a small game in size, with seventy levels spread over seven worlds. We don’t have to touch a calculator to know that’s about a penny per level, and few games can claim that. It doesn’t look particularly bad,…
Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game Review
Shadoworld: The Impossible Escape Game Review
2022-08-11
Dave Ozzy
Advantages:
- The first few levels are good enough, we suppose
- Seventy levels total is generous
cons:
- The constant, unshakable pain
- It’s like nails in our eyes
- Please, please, end it now
- Oh god, what about the kids?
Information:
- Thank you for the free copy of the game go to – Bought by TXH
- Formats – Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
- Version Reviewed – Xbox One on Xbox Series X
- Release Date – May 24, 2022
- Introductory price from – £3.29 (immediately discounted to 79 pence)
TXH score
1/5
Advantages:
- The first few levels are good enough, we suppose
- Seventy levels total is generous
cons:
- The constant, unshakable pain
- It’s like nails in our eyes
- Please, please, end it now
- Oh god, what about the kids?
Information:
- Thank you for the free copy of the game go to – Bought by TXH
- Formats – Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
- Version Reviewed – Xbox One on Xbox Series X
- Release Date – May 24, 2022
- Introductory price from – £3.29 (immediately discounted to 79 pence)
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