Fun for a few moments, then loses luster quickly
Review Date January - 21st - 2020 | Snakeybus | |
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Genre | Arcade, Racing, Time Attack, Physics | |
Theme | Modern | |
Art Style | Semi-Realistic, Medium-High Quality 3D | |
Value for Price | ($2.50-$10) Low | |
Replay Value | Low | |
Quality | Low to Medium | |
Completion Time | Not Completed. Likely 2-4 hours to unlock all levels and Bus Skins | |
Review Purpose/Scope | Information for those unfamiliar with the game. A first impression based on limited gameplay time. This review serves little to no purpose to long time fans of the game | |
Reviewer Playtime | 79 Minutes | |
Overall Rating |
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Snakeybus is alot like Fruit Stripe chewing gum, a delightful treat for a moment and then it instantly loses its fun factor after a few moments. The more you stick with it, the harder it is to get something rewarding out of it.
When I first booted up Snakeybus, I had a blast in this comical reimagining of Snake meets Crazy Taxi with physics. Reminiscent of Goat Simulator, it's absolute silly nonsense how passengers siphon directly into your buss when you pass the bus stop while screaming as if being massacared. The goal is to essentially last a long as you possibly can as a bus that never stops and keeps growing as it drops off passengers.
Gameplay is some what forgiving here.
Running into yourself doesn't cause immediate death and instead manipulates your bus cabin based off physics, potentially pushing you to the side, thrusting you upwards or in some cases, causing you to stop or get caught on geometry. It needs to be this way because the bus grows quite exponentially and if you make it long enough, practically the entire road is covered in your own ever growing snake bus trail with the only way to get around is to jump over or literally jump on top of yourself as a road. However, if your bus stops for too long, you will be prompted to "Keep Moving" until your bus explodes.
It humorous, at first, but it is soon obvious this is really all the game has to offer - drive around until you die.
There are some other modes: Time attack pits you against a clock that restores time when you drop off passengers, and Endless mode I never played because I haven't played enough to unlock it, an Aerial mode that gives you unlimited jump jet fuel, but only works in one really terribly made map called the Cave and feels near impossible. But they're all the same formula at the end of the day.
The next step is to take a stab at Multiplayer. With the 75% off discount running today, I expected many players to be online and I was right, but there were only a few rooms, nearly all of which either filled up immediately, disappeared, or stuck me on a loading screen when I attempted to join. I expect the community to be mostly dead when the attention drops off
You can change the color of the top of your bus in the server browser if you like. If you eventually get into a room, you're placed in a lobby to freeplay while waiting for others to join. Eventually the game starts and everybody drives around in what seems to be the only MP map, Neo Chicago, fighting over passengers and drop off points all the while everybody's buses are growing and filling the map until everybody crashes and there is one bus standing. This mode is very basic, as the scoreboard only displays during the gameplay and doesn't show who won at the end of the match. You'll just seeing a message saying you Lost, or that somebody left, or that You've won. Like Singleplayer, the fun and luster of the game immediately wears off after the first match.