Article content

[np_storybar title=”101 Ways to Die” link=””]

Score: 6.0/10

Platform:Windows PC (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (coming soon)

Developer:Four Door Lemon

Publisher:Four Door Lemon

Release:March 23, 2016

ESRB:T

[/np_storybar]

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 101 Ways to Die review: Gory puzzler is a missed opportunity for creative problem solving Back to video

101 Ways to Die ticks off a lot of checkboxes on the list of things I might like to see in a physics-based puzzle game, including the promise of creative solutions, a sense of humor, and a bit of mindless fantasy violence.

But, save for that that last one, it doesn’t quite manage to live up to expectations.

Players assume the role of an assistant to a sociopathic scientist who, for reasons not fully explained in the comic book-like opening sequence, is obsessed with growing clones called Splatts in big vats and then coming up with complicated ways to kill them in trap-filled labyrinthine stages.

Each level begins with players put into what’s called “plotting mode,” a phase in which we get to examine the stage, making note of the location of spiky pits, vats of lava, wind fans, and other potentially lethal devices. If you need help making sense of what you see, you can switch on “SCI-Eye” viewing mode to make grey the environment and highlight all of the stage’s reactive elements.