Penarium [Game Review]

Game: Penarium Genre: Arena Arcade Developer: Self Made Miracle Publisher: Team17 Digital Ltd Copy supplied by publisher DISCLAIMER: the game was played in offline mode, and the actual amount of time is of around 3 hours.

Penarium is an arena arcade game developed by Self Made Miracle and published by Team17 Digital Ltd.

STORY The story is about a boy who joins a circus, only to be part of life-threatening games. That's pretty much it. Because the story is basically non-existent, I'm not gonna take it into account.

GRAPHICS The game is nothing special: the 16-bit look is charming at first, but there isn't much variety in the levels to make anything stand out. Sometimes you might struggle recognising some threats that appear.

GAMEPLAY The game features 3 arenas with 10 levels each, as well as 4 game modes. In the Campaign, you complete levels to get money to unlock new features and to play locally or online with friends and other players. Going into this game, you have to ask yourself one question: are you willing to play some really hard challenges in which there is something constantly trying to kill you, just to unlock more content? If so, you will have fun like I did playing the game. All you can do is jump around, avoid threats and pick up objects. I had more fun playing locally with a friend than playing the solo campaign, so I strongly recommend having a friend by your side when playing.

CHALLENGE The challenges are increasingly harder and harder, to a point of extreme frustration. If you enjoy getting your ass kicked by sometimes unfair threats, then you will have fun with the game's singleplayer.

SOUND The sound effects are of very little importance, and the soundtrack, while fun at first, quickly started getting on my nerves for its repetitiveness.

REPLAYABILITY Most of the lasting appeal of the game comes from its multiplayer components: every achievement is pretty easy to unlock, and the campaign will last for about an hour.

Overall, if you like arena games or are looking for something to play with a buddy, I recommend this. Beware, however, of its high difficulty spikes and sometimes unfair challenges.

Story: n/a Graphics: 7 Gameplay: 7 Challenge: 9 Sound: 6.5 Replayability: 6