S&S; Indie Review: Face-Plant Adventures

Title: Face-Plant Adventures

Format: Xbox 360
Release Date: September 7, 2012
Publisher: oddworm games
Developer: oddworm games
Price: $1
Rating: Violence 2/3, Sex 0/3, Mature Content 1/3

Is it worth a dollar to play through the grueling experience Face-Plant Adventures provides? Read on to find out.

Gameplay:
Face-Plant Adventures is one of the most boring and arduous platfomers I have had to endure for quite some time. It isn't necessarily that Face-Plant is a bad game but rather that it is extremely boring. The controls are fairly standard for a platformer with little thrown in to shake up the genre. Occasionally the controls can feel kind of loose and only worsens the experience.  Face-Plant hinges on a time mechanic where collecting clocks throughout a level reduces the amount of time that has passed and depending on how long it take to complete a level which dicate what medal is received. This was obviously implemented to encourage going back to previous levels but all it did for me was make me even happier when the end of the level was in sight. There are also infrequent difficulty spikes. These don't add a fun layer of difficulty but rather a yelling at the TV sort of difficulty.
Graphics/Length:
Face-Plant has an interesting art style. Each level has a distinct feel and look. That said the game never really looks spectacular but rather mediocre to decent. The game is pretty short and can be beaten within an hour and a half with only 11 hours. The game really does hinge on gamers wanting to go back to previous levels to improve their time and get a better rated. Unfortunately as previously discussed there is never any desire to go back to a level unless it is to set it on fire.
Final Thoughts:
Face-Plant Adventures is quite an adventure but rather than be an exciting one it is a grueling to boring one at best. I can't recommend it to anyone no matter how desperate they are for a platformer. Instead I would point them in the direction of countless other XBLIG titles that will scratch the platforming itch albiet in a much better way.
S&S Rating: 5/10 @natehubes