Shelter
SCORE: 72
I love
different ideas in the video game industry. Especially when they allow
us to play the game in a non-violent way. Take Shelter for example. We
play a mother badger who is trying to escort her cubs safely across the
forest. Why? No idea. She is on a quest to find food.
The cubs come with her in Shelter. Which is helpful, and a bit of a
hindrance. It is helpful because it means once we find food we do not
need to transport it very far to feed the cubs. A hindrance when we have
to deal with predators. Shelter is a natural world. Which means we catch
smaller animals and kill them for our cubs. Larger animals will happily
take them away as their food.
I have been pondering how to explain the graphical look of Shelter in
the kindest way possible. They looked washed out, and pretty ugly. I
started to get headaches once the game made it to the night time
section. Other members of Family Friendly Gaming Nation made negative
comments about the graphics.
I came to enjoy the laid back musical approach. Shelter does notify you
when there is food nearby, or predators. This is done via audio and
sometimes a video cue. There is also an audio cue when you lose a cub.
Losing a cub in Shelter is easier than it sounds. And this accurately
reflects the natural world we live in.
The controls in Shelter gave me fits. Mainly because our controller
would not work with this PC game. So I was stuck with the mouse and
keyboard. Lining up a tree with the mouse, pressing shift to run, and
then the 'W' key to move forward gave me all kinds of problems. I had to
take everything very slowly in Shelter. Which led to the loss of cubs
because you have to act fast in certain spots.
Due to the level layouts it can be easy to get lost. The good news is
the levels are huge. The bad news is you are not provided any guidance
about what to do or where to go. You walk around the forest wondering
when the mother badger gets to eat aimlessly until you stumble across
something new.
The core message and lesson in Shelter is to keep your young safe. I
love the family aspect to Shelter. I love the sacrifices the mother goes
through for her cubs. I love the realism in terms of the natural order
of things. There are predators and there are prey. These animals will
attack you giving the chance.
- Paul
Graphics: 60%
Sound: 70%
Replay/Extras: 80%
Gameplay: 60%
Family Friendly Factor: 90%
System: Personal Computer
Publisher: Might and Delight
Rating: Rating: ‘E10+’ - Everyone 10+
{Fantasy Violence}
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