Swarm Review - Killin' Me Softly

[Spillanya]

What do you get when you cross Pikmin with Limbo and Trials HD? One heck of a frustratingly fun time.

Swarm, by Hothead Games, the same Canada-based developers that brought us DeathSpank and the Penny Arcade games, is a unique 2.5D action platformer wherein you control an entire, well, swarm of 50 alien beings known as Swarmites. The story involves the Swarmite mothership crash landing on an unknown, war-devastated planet. Your mission is to control your swarm and collect enough DNA to help the mothership, nicknamed Momma, grow and take over the planet.

In order to do this, your objective is to beat each level of the game with at least one Swarmite remaining, which is a much taller order than it sounds. Meanwhile, you're required to not only collect DNA strands, but also glowing orbs that keep your score multiplier up. Keeping your score multiplier relatively high is crucial for getting through many of the later levels in the game. Otherwise, you'll end up like me, stuck on level 3 for hours. Ragequitters, beware -- this game can get outstandingly frustrating.

The game includes a variety of creative ways to use your swarm to overcome the many daunting and dangerous obstacles within each level, such as stacking them on top of each other to reach DNA strands placed high in the air, bashing into crates for extra orbs, or dash-jumping across large gaps in the ground (though it is really sad to see that one Swarmite in the back of the group fall to its death after a long jump). You'll need to master each and every one of these moves in order to achieve the scores required to unlock the game's 10 levels. In conduction with maintaining your score multiplier, well, let's just say things can get a little panic inducing. Still, Swarm is delightfully charming and somewhat addictive, whether it's because of its relatively fast-paced platforming mechanics or because those little Swarmites are just so darn oblivious and adorable. Especially when they die.

Speaking of death, one of the other -- more fun -- ways to keep your score multiplier in the double-digits is by sacrificing your Swarmites. Being stingy with your Swarmite collection is not the way to go in this game. In fact, you can even say it's detrimental to your gameplay experience. Oh, but don't feel bad about impaling, igniting, and squishing your Swarmites! Spawn points littered around checkpoints in each level replenish your swarms back to 50, so there are never any regrets! I often found myself panicking while watching the timer on my score multiplier tick its way to zero, only to save myself a few precious seconds by flinging my Swarmites into a nearby wall of fire. There's even an achievement for killing your Swarmites in 9 different ways. Talk about some morbid fun.

Overall, Swarm is a delightful, if not dark and somewhat disturbing game with unique gameplay and a comical atmosphere. While, in my opinion, it isn't really worth the hefty 1200MSP it costs, I'd definitely recommend trying out the demo or buying it when it goes on sale. Whether you need a quick break from camping n00bs, or you just need to blow off some steam, Swarm is a great game to use as an escape. Sure, you may cry and give into your ragequitting urges, but you'll definitely be back for more.

Oh, and one more thing. Do not press Y.

Final Score:
8.5/10

[Smore ninja]

I may have gotten the trial after reading this and I may have spent a good five minutes pressing Y

[KillerOfCereal]

I'm curious as to why I shouldn't press Y.

[Start a Riot]

Great review, Spill! I've been meaning to download this game and try it out… hopefully I'll get around to doing that this weekend.

P.s. the first thing I do in the game will be to press Y

[Greenskull]

I may have gotten the trial after reading this and I may have spent a good five minutes pressing Y

You're a rebel.

[Discopatrol]

Definitely press Y But make sure no little kidlets are around when you do...might give them nightmares! :S

[Kathanis]

I might have to try this