When Netflix Announced Stranger Things Season 3, I was hyped up. I have absolutely loved this show from beginning to end, but this time was a little different. Along side the show, we were told we would be getting a retro-style game which would "reveal more" of the story as well as let you play through the main events you will see in the show. I knew I was in from the word go, but I also knew I didn't want to do it till after I finished the show itself.
This proved a wise decision as the game is VERY faithful to the original material and many a spoiler is found there... and as a result, there may be a fair few here as well. You have been warned.
When you start the game, you will immediately have control of Mike and Lucas as the two kids make their way through the Starcourt Mall to sneak into the hot new movie. This and the rest of the game will be shown to you in a 16-bit style birds-eye-view with the idea of a nostalgic image to match the same pulls the show manipulates with absolute mastery. Unfortunately for the game, this illusion falls apart with a little thought. This takes place in the mid-80s, so the generation the game aims to ape is just too advanced and should have been the 8-bit era. Now I will admit, this is very weak to state as a complaint, but as an observation, it sets the stage for some of the more serious complaints to come, as it speaks to a lack of care for the finer details we will see.
To get back on point, however, this introduction does an amazing job getting you into how the whole game will play. The default single-player mode will have you playing one character while the second follows you around attacking enemies you do by default. Rather then have to read a help file or manual, the button layout for your controls is at the bottom of the screen giving you the commands to attack, block, use your current character's special attack, or tell your AI to use theirs. In addition, there is a small set of commands with your ally to assist in controlling them. You have the ability to tell them to stay in place or follow you as well as swap which of the two you are controlling. It's simplistic, but fast and works very well on a modern controller, which I have to recommend for this game. In addition to this, you will also find each character has a health bar and up to 5 "energy" points to use those special abilities, and you can replenish these both in combat or by using a medkit or drinking a soda respectively. These acts will give both characters the boost in question, so between that and the fact that your AI will never use their special without you telling them to, the need to micromanage here is non-existent.
But all that changes if you have a second controller plugged into your PC when you started the game and a friend wants to play. A simple press of a button on the second controller (defined by which one was used to start the session) gives a second player control of the backup character and immediately puts the game in splitscreen mode so the two of you can explore as you see fit. At this point the controls reduce to just the ones for your character, but that lack of polish rears it's ugly head to keep this from being as good as it could be. For starters, this game does not support online-play at all, a real head-scratcher in the modern world of gaming where a lot of friends may not be able to always get together in person, but may want to play together anyway. They also took the easy way out with item management, as you will both have to agree to how you are equipped as well as even when to use those sodas and medkits. Your inventory is shared and either using player these will still effect both of you. It may have been done to allow for a drop in and out style gameplay (which the game does well), but it seems an odd choice.
But the game does not just leave you stuck with Mike and Lucas. As you play, you will unlock more characters from the show who join your party, each with their own talents, attack types, and abilities. Don't worry about missing anyone as the game pretty much unlocks them at different points in the story and gives you time to play with each so you can find your favorite combo that works best for you (or you and a friend). For example, I spent most of the game playing as Dustin with Eleven as my backup. Both were ranged characters, but while Dustin uses poison weapons (if you remember in the show when he sprayed Lucas in the face when the surprise welcome home backfired, that's his basic weapon), Eleven's basic attack is a shock that can blow enemies back. It's really useful, but I found it relatively tough to aim myself due to it not having a visible shot on the screen. So I let the AI do it. But you may find other combinations that work even better (as I did towards the end).
But beyond that, these unlocks become extra important as some characters are needed to get past specific obstructions. For example, Lucas' weapon is a slingshot which when he uses his special attack, launches a cherry bomb. This is not only a more powerful attack, but there are boulders that will obstruct your path which you will need him to blow up this way. In similar respects you will find Dustin's "hacking" power needed to unlock keypad locks to open new ways around and more. Each time a character with a special power like this becomes available, they unlock new places to explore... some in new locations (which will open up as the game progresses), and others waiting to be explored where you have already tread to find new things.
And while this works for an action/adventure game playing to nostalgia, it is not all this game offers. In addition, you will collect random stuff throughout your journey which you can take to the various craft stations in the game to build "trinkets" that upgrade your party. This could be anything from extra health to certain weapon types getting extra powerful to even how much money you collect (because of course you can buy most things you might need from stores and vending machines on the way as well). What you can build will increase as you proceed through the story of the game, but within that range, you are basically only limited here by your own resources and slots for these trinkets to be equipped to. They are for both active characters at once, and you only have 5 slots to put them in, so choosing how you want to equip your team is vital. Thankfully, unlike building your gear, you can always pause and change how you are setup on the fly should one choice not work as well as another or even to accommodate a new selection of active characters.
However, that is not to say the gameplay is always smooth. In fact the final boss of the game is a perfect example of just how this can go wrong, and before we even get into that, I have to question why they chose him as a last boss. No, it's not the mind-flayer in the food court. It should have been, ESPECIALLY as this was a showcase for the game and easily the coolest fight in it, but it isn't. Instead after you finish that battle and watch it collapse, your last fight is with the Russian enforcer who in the show has been trying to kill Hopper and crew for the last half of it. (Seriously, why weren't these in the reverse order?)
This is Hopper's fight in the room with the portal machine, and as such for the first time in the ENTIRE GAME, you no longer can switch characters... and that is only the start of the issues in this room. Like many bosses in this game, he is invulnerable most of the time, and in fact only becomes vulnerable 2 ways: block his punch (which still hurts you some) and counter-attack for a single hit, or get him hit with electrical outbursts as the portal machine starts to overload, causing random electric effects through the small room you are forced to fight in.
That part of the game is down to luck as you have to rely on his timing or your AI to hold him in place to get hit with that, assuming you don't get pinned in a situation where you are zapped too. Because unlike him, this stuns you so you will just take whatever abuse is coming your way. And that abuse is coming your way as he also has a gun which he can rapid fire at will to take a 3rd of your life arbitrarily. Add to this the shape of the room being a small U and his random ability to shoot through things you cant walk through and you are very likely to just get screwed if he decides its time to use that attack. And finally add to this your AI can follow you close enough that you CANT move around them without taking precious time to swap places and move them out of the way, and this is a boss fight that is straight up obnoxious and unforgiving to the extreme for all the wrong reasons. It is just about every issue you will run into in small doses throughout the game compiled into one massive shitstorm.
Bugs: While there were not a lot of bugs, that is not to say the game did not have any:
- Where's the Poo-Poo Shake: This issue comes off as a bug and if you are not aware of it, it is entirely possible to believe you soft-locked your game on a side mission. Basically no an optional mission to get some items for Susan at the pool, you get the attention of the life-gaurd who sends you to get him a shake. And you get him one loaded with laxatives. The problem is that when it's made it sounds like you have it... only you don't. It's still on the counter without showing up on the screen and ONLY reachable from behind said counter. If you don't know this, you can't get back into the pool to not only finish your side mission, but continue the main ones, and your game is just not able to continue.
Score:
7/10
System Requirements:
- Intel Core Duo running at 2Ghz
- 2GB RAM
- 256 MB VRAM and Shader 4.0 support
- Windows 10 (64-bit version)
- 2 GB hard drive space
- Ryzen 3 2200G running at 3.5 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Windows 10
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