SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide was supplied by THQ Nordic for evaluation. Thanks!
SpongeBob SquarePants has had a little bit of a lull because the heyday of Battle for Bikini Backside method again in 2003, so does Titans of the Tide carry it again round and supply a brand new era of avid gamers some stable platforming motion? Nicely, for probably the most half, I’d say it does.
Because the title implies, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide’s story facilities on a battle between two titans: King Neptune and the Flying Dutchman. As you possibly can think about, the reason for the battle is fairly petty: slicing in line on the Krusty Krab. Nevertheless, it will definitely culminates in a battle that includes all of Bikini Backside. The story is generally conveyed in cutscenes initially and finish of every space, and whereas it explains why you are travelling round, it actually would not have a lot affect on the gameplay in any respect. You can most likely skip by means of the cutscenes and benefit from the sport simply as a lot.
That being stated, the voice performing is fairly on level right here, with the present’s forged giving their all for this sport. Some dialogue strains in-game are repeated a bit too typically, however for probably the most half, the voices move muster and are a welcome addition.
As for the platforming facet of the sport itself, it is fairly good. Motion feels good for probably the most half, with the exception being ledge grabs, which appear fairly inconsistent and led to some deaths on my half, however fortunately, the sport is tremendous lenient once you die, and at most, you lose a few minutes of progress.
The sport includes a distinctive “ghost lamp” mechanic, the place ghost platforms can seem when the proper coloured mild is shone upon them. At first, that is stored comparatively easy, however later within the sport, it opens up the way in which for some tight platforming, requiring you to leap off an present platform and swap colours mid-air to make a platform seem beneath you. The mechanic can also be utilized in different attention-grabbing methods for puzzles all through the sport, corresponding to revealing hidden partitions.
Fortunately, puzzles and platforming within the sport are totally reliant on two mechanics, that are constantly used all through the sport because the main puzzle options, so you are not left questioning tips on how to proceed. You are both swapping between SpongeBob and Patrick, one in ghost type and the opposite in materials type, for his or her completely different movesets, which you are able to do at any time, even in mid-air, or switching the colour of ghost lamps to disclose platforms or hidden areas. This consistency helps the puzzles not be too irritating, and positively helps the sport keep extra pleasant to youthful gamers.
You may additionally encounter different types of traversal, corresponding to a number of “slide” sections within the sport, just like one thing like Tremendous Mario 64, the place you must steer to keep away from obstacles, whereas accumulating cash; that is additionally mixed with the “ghost lamp” mechanic for some additional problem in later slides. Plus, a few the extra open components of the sport allow you to trip on a “Ghostboard”, which is actually a surfboard that may traverse each water and land, permitting for fast motion and a few neat platforming. Usually, you may discover facet quests within the type of races once you’re on a Ghostboard, too, which may present a bit of break from the principle story quest.
The graphics are nothing particular; they painting the characters fairly nicely as to how they’re within the present, and there is loads of costumes so that you can discover and check out with the in-game store. The cutscenes are all rendered in real-time; nevertheless, I believe this may occasionally have missed out on the chance for some good visible results, as some results are a bit lackluster in cutscenes.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide – Steam Deck Efficiency
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide does get off to an honest begin, with nice controller help and help for 1280×800 as a decision, that means no black borders.
Issues do get a bit iffy with regards to the sport’s efficiency, although. I discovered it greatest to go along with largely “Medium” settings, a 75% 3D Decision Scale, and TAA antialiasing. The sport can then run at a secure 60 FPS. However sure environments can drop as little as the mid-40s. You’ll be able to both restrict your framerate to 40/45 FPS or tolerate the dips in these areas. As a lot of the sport runs at 60, I selected to tolerate these dips and play principally at 60 FPS.
As I discussed above, I wasn’t a fan of the cutscenes not being pre-rendered, and this additionally harms the Steam Deck, as some cutscenes can drop as little as 30 FPS, principally resulting from crowd density, which is considerably disappointing.
Energy draw with these settings tends to be round 16W-21W, with temperatures starting from 65 °C to 70 °C. So you possibly can anticipate a battery lifetime of about 2.5-3 hours on a Steam Deck OLED and round 1.5 hours on a Steam Deck LCD.
Accessibility:
All dialogue within the sport is subtitled, in addition to the flexibility to disable digicam shaking, a colorblind filter, and “dynamic leaping”, which seemingly pertains to how excessive you bounce relying on the way you press the Bounce button. There aren’t any problem choices, however the sport has very frequent checkpoints.
Conclusion:
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is an effective platformer. It has some stable mechanics that hold it enjoyable to play and are utilized in quite a lot of methods, which helps them not outstay their welcome. Whereas the story backing it up is not too attention-grabbing, the acquainted characters positively assist enhance it for any SpongeBob followers on the market. It is also a good value for an journey that can final most gamers near the 10-hour mark, when you take a while out to do a number of the facet quests.
Efficiency on the Steam Deck is not nearly as good as I might hoped for a sport like this, however most areas will run at 60 FPS. Nevertheless, anticipate some dips in a few environments, significantly throughout cutscenes. The sport stays totally playable and fulfilling, regardless of these dips, and I’ve no downside recommending it for gamers to get pleasure from totally on a Steam Deck.
Our evaluation is predicated on the PC model of this sport.
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