Karoshi 2.0
| Title: | Karoshi 2.0 |
| Creator: | 2Dcube |
| Reviewed on: | 8 Dec 2009 |
| Genre: | Platform |
Images
Review
Reviewed by on 8 Dec 2009We all know that working in an office can be stressful, but would it drive you to the same lengths as Karoshi 2.0!? The game means "death from overwork" in Japanese, and is based around a little office worker who must solve puzzles to kill himself in every level. Sounds like a grim game, but is surprisingly fun! Some may find it a little offensive but once you've played the game you see it's all just for fun.
Karoshi 2.0 is made up of unique little platform puzzles that are each rewarded with a one-way ticket to a nice set of spikes or heavy crate to fall on you, or basically anything within reach that'll take you to the next life! The puzzles are not as straight forward as they might look, for example in one level you solve the puzzle by doing nothing, or by restarting the level. Karoshi pushes you imagination to think outside the box, and shows that not everything is as linear as first thought.
The graphics are simple but with nice animation look quite effective. It gives the game a simple feel but the puzzles are where the fun is at and so lets you focus more on them rather than trying to dazzle you with effects and glamour. The sprites are clean and proffessional, maybe the main character lacked a bit of animation by simply moving his legs up and down.
There wasn't much of a variety as far as background music goes, but you did get a selection of three tracks, ones of which was just an annoying ringing sound, which I'm fairly sure would make your brain explode by the time you get to the last level. Maybe a few more tracks would have been nice, but then again you wouldn't want the music to be too noticeable for a puzzle game as it's not exactly packed with action, but more strategy. Sound effects were scarce but good.
Gameplay is incredibly smooth. The player never got stuck, or felt ridgid in any way, but simply glided along the platforms to give you total and easy control over your movements. The puzzles are very varied and unique throwing a new challenge at the player level after level. The game also has a built in level editor with a ground breaking saving technique that allows the user to simply copy and paste their level code to a forum or website and others just paste it back into they're own game and hey presto they're playing the same thing! The level editor is simple to use and simple to save. You can get a great deal extra from this game by just googling "Karoshi 2 levels" and seeing what other puzzles people have made.
"Karoshi 2.0" also comes with a "Karoshi 1" speed-run mode allowing you to try and complete all the puzzles from the original Karoshi game in under 7 minutes. A nice idea allowing players to compare times to crown the ultimate Karoshi King.
Overall, a very solid game. Well made, nicely polished, smooth gameplay and an unlimited number of combinations of levels and puzzles can made and shared. Karoshi comes with one final mode just to pass time, where blocks fall from the sky and your only objective is to kill yourself as many times as possible. This combined with the level editor and 50 in-game levels gives the game a very high replayabilty factor. This game is a must play!
Score Breakdown
| Graphics : | 7.0 | |
| Gameplay : | 8.0 | |
| Sound : | 4.0 | |
| Replay Value : | 9.0 | |
| Total (Not Average) : | 7.5 |