CLAWPUNK was offered by Megabit Publishing for assessment. Thanks!
Clawpunk is a kind of video games that could be simply what you want after a tough day at work. You could have little power to do a lot however vegetate in entrance of a TV, and you then keep in mind video video games exist. You determine besides up Clawpunk and spend the evening ripping by destructible terrain and slaughtering enemies as a set of mysterious cat mercenaries.
As I mentioned at size throughout my assessment of Huge Hop, I’m not a lot of a platformer man. Clearly, our editor took pity on me for my subsequent sport to assessment, which is why I obtained to play the madhouse that’s Clawpunk. It launched final yr in mid-November, and after spending the final two weeks with the sport, I’m amazed it hasn’t acquired extra consideration. I really like hidden gems, and Clawpunk deserves so many extra eyes on it. Not solely is it a stable roguelike with tons of appeal and depth, but it surely’s an excellent expertise on the Steam Deck.
The very first thing that drew me to Clawpunk is how a lot it helps you to vibe. From the second I booted up the sport, this title’s music and aesthetics sucked me proper in. The loading cutscene units the narrative of what to anticipate. Feral Metropolis has fallen underneath the management of a number of nasty gangs, and it’s as much as you to reclaim town with a crack group of fearsome kitties by an action-packed sequence of platforming challenges.
There’s a stable tutorial to be taught the ropes that’s separate from the primary sport, and I all the time admire video games which have a separate sport mode that you may dive into everytime you want a refresher. You’re going to want all the assistance you will get with Clawpunk as a result of it is a brutal sport that’s deeper than it appears to be like.
At its core, Clawpunk is a fast-paced hack-and-slash platformer with 5 worlds with a number of phases in every to navigate. What’s cool is that other than the final stage, which is just unlockable by finishing all earlier areas, you possibly can run by the others nonetheless you want, and might journey to all 4 from the start. Gamers begin with Sprint, an extremely quick however weak cat with a katana, and unlock perks together with the opposite eight cats of doom from there. Environments are all destructible, and the aim of every stage is similar: to succeed in the safehouse on the backside. It’s an fascinating strategy to the mission design as a result of whereas it’s a easy plan in concept, the sport throws loads of curveballs and instruments at you to realize that.
Mortality is rampant, with widespread enemies and your individual military of feline mercenaries possessing squishy our bodies. There’s all the time a ton of threats to navigate from various enemies to environmental traps similar to dynamite and swimming pools of acid, and you’ll die typically. Clawpunk’s core gameplay might be its greatest power, mixing nice problem with an interactivity that actually impressed me. The sport is extraordinarily punishing, however when you’ve unlocked a few additional mercs, issues do ease up just a little. Your run solely ends in defeat when all of your unlocked roster dies.
The aim of reaching the safehouse is all the time there, however the sport rewards you for killing as many enemies as potential, ranking your competitors with a tier system relying on the destruction precipitated, how a lot injury you took, and so forth. What I additionally discovered fascinating is the Chaos mechanic. Destroying issues and killing enemies all feed this meter, and when you don’t fill it earlier than escaping the stage, your notoriety will enhance. It should additionally enhance when you get detected by safety cameras.
When this meter goes up sufficient, the gangs accountable for Feral Metropolis will ship elite troops after you. This stuff hit even more durable than the grunts, so it’s essential to be very cautious between balancing chaos and dashing to the end line. Finishing phases is necessary, however you might be sending a message to the gangs as effectively. It’s an intriguing manner of doing issues.
The degrees are quick and candy usually, however regardless of that, there are many issues to do. Amassing purple cash permits you to improve stats and unlock new characters within the Airfield, which serves because the hub between runs. There are some issues to do as new characters flip up, and also you get to observe the platforming between missions, which is sweet. Collectible playing cards will also be added to characters to unlock a ton of modifiers, which solely improves the flexibleness.
Between the attractive visuals, destruction physics, and quick, brutal gameplay, there’s loads to love with Clawpunk. I’ve a few gripes with determining which character is who. With a lot occurring on display, it may be onerous understanding the place my feline avatar truly is. Greater than as soon as, I misplaced monitor of the place I used to be and obtained killed within the confusion, however that is extra of a difficulty with the smaller characters and isn’t a dealbreaker. The issue curve can be fairly steep, greater than in different video games within the style, which could trigger some gamers to battle with it. Regardless of these minor drawbacks, Clawpunk deserves way more consideration than it presently has.
Clawpunk – Steam Deck Efficiency
Clawpunk is rated Steam Deck Verified by Valve, and it carries an Unknown ranking on ProtonDB. The latter is principally as a result of relative lack of consideration the sport has acquired within the countless ocean that’s the indie sport market, however Clawpunk is a superb expertise on the Steam Deck.
That’s simply as effectively, as a result of there isn’t any room to fiddle with settings-wise. No graphical choices exist, and there’s no approach to actually change keybindings both. Fortuitously, the controller assist is out of the field, and I’ve had no complaints about efficiency. Font dimension could be a little tough to learn as a result of lack of UI scaling, however this isn’t a sport the place it’s a must to learn that a lot.
Beneficial Settings
With our choices restricted, there is just one preset we will actually use. With a local decision, 60hz refresh charge, and default TDP, Clawpunk holds a gentle 60FPS even within the heaviest motion sequences. The controls are fluid regardless of having no approach to regulate them as effectively.
With the total TDP operating, Clawpunk nonetheless does decently with battery life. Regardless of the low-end visuals, the total harmful terrain and display motion could make issues fairly hectic. I noticed a mean energy draw of 12 watts throughout these scenes, which can present round 4 hours on the Steam Deck OLED throughout fight.
I attempted tinkering with the TDP to see if I may enhance the battery life, and a 4-watt TDP stored the framerate round 30FPS with a 7-watt common energy draw. Whereas it is a huge enchancment in general battery life, I nonetheless advocate sticking with the native TDP to make sure the smoothest gameplay potential.
Accessibility
Clawpunk is accessible in English, French, German, Spanish – Spain, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, Conventional Chinese language, and Simplified Chinese language, though solely English has full audio.
Clawpunk’s greatest drawback lies with the dearth of accessibility choices, sadly. There’s a lack of colorblind choices, no approach to change keybinds or button prompts, and an absence of graphical settings that may be adjusted proper now. Gamers can select to disable information assortment, regulate injury tolerance, and alter sound quantity, however that’s about it.
Conclusion
Generally, even good video games fall by the cracks as a result of sheer variety of titles that exist, particularly within the indie gaming scene. After taking part in Clawpunk, I hope extra folks uncover this. It won’t do something wholly new or distinctive, but it surely does an excellent job with nearly every part that issues. The addictive gameplay and quantity of content material stored me invested, and Clawpunk has nice character.
The steep problem curve and lack of accessibility choices may put some gamers off, however it is a nice complement to the Steam Deck library.
Our assessment is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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