RAIN WORLD
Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter, procedurally
Procedural indie games are so commonplace that it takes something special to make one stand out from the pack. Rain World manages that, for the most part. It puts you in control of a slugcat, an agile little sod who’s separated from its family during a rainstorm. It’s up to you to make your way through the enormous map while trying to survive both the elements and the creatures inhabiting the same space.
What makes Rain World interesting is that it isn’t the levels that are procedurally generated, but the character animations. Because your slugcat, and the world’s other animals, don’t use standard pre-made animations, they move with a beautiful fluidity and believability. It makes things all the more special when you encounter one of the game’s numerous other creatures, such as the massive lizard-type chaps that roam the environment, accompanied by a bass drum beat that sounds like Blue Monday by New Order.
These enemies – along with the others you’ll meet along the way – are special in that they aren’t all hunting you: some of them couldn’t care less. They’re there for their own reasons, and they’re just trying to survive like you are. At times you’ll come across a group of them fighting among themselves, and you’re free to keep your distance and let them carry on without them paying you any heed (though it’s hard to resist chucking a cheeky stick at them to stir things up a bit).
They don’t just randomly appear when you visit a new screen, either: they’re permanently present in the game world, roaming around other areas of the map and getting into their own scrapes. There’s nothing like the shock you get when two huge lizards, who’ve been grappling in some other off-screen area above you, suddenly come crashing down in a tangled heap of fangs and tails and you realise you’re suddenly in amongst it.
DAMP SQUIBS
Other elements of the game are less impressive. The titular rain feature is an annoyance, forcing you to hibernate in safe rooms (but only once you’ve gathered enough food) to avoid the frequent insta-kill rainstorms. As a result, you can’t really go exploring too much because if you can’t find another safe room between storms you’re going to have to backtrack to an old one and start again. This wouldn’t be a big problem if the map weren’t so enormous and the safe rooms so scarce, but as it is you’ll regularly find yourself dying after 15-minute jaunts and end up back in the last safe room with your recent progress undone.
Rain World may not be the most forgiving adventure but stick with it through its trickier times, and when it all comes together it’s capable of producing some genuinely brilliant moments. As Dolly Parton sang: “if you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.”
VERDICT
“THE CHARACTER ANIMATIONS, NOT THE LEVELS, ARE PROCEDURALLY GENERATED.”
A visually stunning and often satisfying game, but one with more than its fair share of irritating moments. Put up with its nonsense and you’ll be rewarded. Chris Scullion