The development and release of Paranautical Activity alone is a tale in itself with the title being recently released on the Nintendo Wii U. But is it worth playing it on Nintendo’s latest home hardware months after it’s been out on other platforms?
For all intents and purposes it’s necessary to start off this review by stating that this is a title that doesn’t quite feel like a finished product. The essentials are there and yet it feels like it’s lacking in presentation and the way that it is played.
This is clearly visible from the first time navigating the rudimentary main menu and the unusual use of a font that makes it difficult to even look at the menu. It’s almost like the intention was to make the title as unpleasant looking as possible.
The only mode available from the start is the Classic mode, with both Hardcore and Infinite modes left to unlock by obtaining specific achievements. Whilst it is commendable to see a title where more content is unlocked by achieving certain milestones, it still feels somewhat pointless given how this one is played.
Before starting a game session it is possible to choose one or two weapons to fight the various creatures waiting for the player. Oddly enough, the loading screen takes almost a minute to load the character in the map and this also applies to other areas where loading takes place. The idea is that players are dropped into a randomly generated labyrinth with a different number of enemies found in the rooms each time. It’s necessary to clear all enemies in a room to move on to a new room or go back to the previous one. In a way, this is actually quite fun since it means that a new strategy is necessary whenever starting from the beginning or even by entering a new room.
However, what doesn’t work out as well for a title such as this, where each mode will take some time to complete, is the lack of a proper saving system. Instead, being killed in one of the rooms means having to start all over again from the very beginning. It’s quite the problem given how easy it is to die if overwhelmed by monsters in a room and not even being given the option to escape into another room.
The title is played from a first person point of view like old school corridor shooters. It’s very simple to use most of the weapons and it’s possible to buy new ones or items in a makeshift shop found in certain rooms – even if it’s difficult to buy anything given the high prices.
The level design is basic at best and the lack of variety means that it doesn’t take long before the rooms start to look too similar. Not only that but the fact that it’s quite dark in some rooms makes it difficult to navigate them. This also means that it’s harder to find and shoot or hit the various enemies that populate these rooms. Not that it’s that important to see them clearly given that only a few enemy designs stand out in what is otherwise a bland group of targets to defeat.
All of this is complimented by a fast paced club like music soundtrack that makes the title seem more frenetic than it actually is. In keeping with the overall theme of the title, even the music tracks start to sound too similar after playing it a few times.
At times it’s like Paranautical Activity wants to emulate the likes of old school games such as Doom. Yet it tends to feel more like it never quite managed to leave the prototype stage of development and so has been released in an unfinished state. Which is a shame since it could have been at the very least an enjoyable title to spend a few hours with.
