The Cave Review
Platform: PC, Playstation Network, Nintendo E-Shop, Xbox Live
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Publisher: Sega
Author: S.A.
The Cave is a puzzle-platform adventure that is surprisingly fun, but also something you can play with your friends repeatedly due to the plethora of characters available within and the want to hear each of their stories. The game’s narrative concentrates on a cave that lures people into its realm, in the attempt to examine their surprisingly darker personality traits. It also concentrates on cooperative game play, making players depend on two other characters in conjunction with their own to get a majority of the tasks done.
A magical talking voice narrates the story within the cave, and slowly reveals to us the history of each character that we play as. We have up to seven characters available to us in our play through, and they are brought to us from all walks of life. Each of these characters harbor their own dark secrets, and have come to the cave in the attempt find out who they might become as people. Most of the time, the results are rather…surprising in nature.
A knight out to rescue his princess….
One such surprise lays in the Knight, a character seeking a treasured amulet and stopping at nothing to possess it. Upon discovering that a princess possesses it, and that she is being hounded by a dragon he makes a daring decision! That is, he lures the dragon into eating the princess and reclaims the amulet when the dragon coughs it back up.
Well I’ll admit, I didn’t see that coming.
Upon starting a play through, players may only pick three of the seven available characters. The rest of which are locked away until a new campaign is started. As you progress through the mysteries that the cave has to offer, you will collect objects and interact with the environment in similar fashion to any adventure game. Each item serving its own purpose in terms of progression in the story line. It’s a 2D plat former with 3D graphics. If you find yourself unable to find friends to work through the game with fear not! You are always capable of switching between each individual to help activate other parts of a puzzle. This is important to remember, for each character has their own unique ability to aid in their progression of the environment. Which means if the right characters aren’t working in conjunction during exploration, certain area’s will remain unexplored until your next play through.
Some area’s are character specific in themselves, meaning you can’t access them and their story without their specific character in play. Such area’s are seen in the Knight’s castle, or the scientists laboratory. These are representations of the dark desires hidden within your character, and the reason for their arrival here in the cave.
The scientists lovely laboratory.
Admittedly their are hazards scattered throughout the game, all of which can and will kill your character, they are hardly detrimental to the experience. With convenient re-spawns near your recently deceased body, you may attempt area’s that cause you confusion and frustration repeatedly. In combination with the fun game play and amusing story within The Cave, I’ve enjoyed many hours of game play in regards to this game and definitely see it as a fun way to the pass the time with your friends.
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