Game: Gerrrms
Genre: 2D. Party, Arcade, Fighting
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer|Publisher: Bugbomb GamesÂ
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: UK £8.99 | EU € 9,99 | AU $15.00 | CA $13.22 | US $9.99
Release Date: 23rd July 2020
Review code provided with many thanks to Bugbomb Games
The Three Rs
Gerrrms. Yes that’s the title of this game – you’ve got to roll those three Rs. I don’t think these represent though reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic unless this game has some deeper educational message that I missed somewhere. Maybe regular ol’ Germs was taken or patented. Who knows but that’s the title of this game and I just have to live with it instead of developing a migraine by thinking about it too much.
We all probably have some joke up our sleeves about Gerrrms being released whilst a global pandemic is going on. So feel free to pause for a moment to let it out of your system. Are you done? Unfortunately through no fault of the developers, sometimes you work on a game and things just happen in the world totally out of your control. Fortunately for Gerrrms the presentation of this game is of a friendly nature so hopefully people will see the fun positive side, as opposed to the grim reality of germs in real life.
Either way is this rather cute germ game catching? Time to find out.
Battle for Gerrrm Dominance
Gerrrms is a party multiplayer game. Up to four gerrrms battle it out for dominance in some poor human’s body. Pick a cute looking gerrrm, choose a colour and jump into some quick multiplayer action. Before you begin the game runs you through a quick tutorial to instruct you on how the games controls. Levels cover a single screen set in an area of the human body like the heart. Each level is filled with small pegs your germ can swing from by holding down the ‘a’ button. As you hold the button your gerrrm will constantly rotate around the peg, so the only way to move on is to let go at the right time and hope your gerrrm flies off in the direction you want. Since the pegs are dotted all over the level it’s not a big deal if you make a mistake as you can simply reach from another peg and try again.
Additionally each level gives you a single power up which will vary depending on the level objective. These power ups include a dash move, blowing a bubble to slow other players and even hitting other players out of the way or into spikes. There’s a decent amount of these moves and using them correctly will help you get the edge over the competition. Before you begin a round the game gives you quick tutorial of the moves on offer. Something very useful for a more casual audience.
Swing to Win
The controls feel simple enough but in practice I didn’t feel I actually had full control of things. I struggled with the peg swinging and when I used power ups like missiles (because those totally make sense inside the human body) it felt like a lottery on whether they would fire in the direction I wanted. In a way I guess this messy system makes the game balanced for casual and experienced players as literally anyone could win. But if, like me, you don’t have any friends, bots will happily fill the void who also seemed to fly around levels just as cumbersome as I did, so I guess the experience balanced out quite well.
Several Modes
As for modes, the game offers seven, all of which are quite diverse. These include simple modes like capture the flag where you need to hold the flag for as long as possible and avoid other players stealing it from you. Again it’s a shame a flag is used and not some body like substitute. A mode that does match the theme better is Synapse Snatch. This is sort of like gerrrm football. Grab the ball or node and dump it in your goal. A favourite of mine was Antibody, a mode where you need to avoid Barney who looks a lot like a police version of a white blood cell. Basically being the last gerrrm alive but the cat and mouse chasing was entertaining.
It was fun discovering these modes and I would’t say there was a particular weak link in the mix. Rounds mostly lasted for a few minutes so things don’t get dragged out too long. However, due to the short length the game will only really ever serve those quick gaming sessions which will work for some gamers but not for folk looking for a deeper experience.
When a gerrrm wins it multiplies exponentially whilst the others float around dead. A terrifying but also fascinating finish.
Single Player Mode
Modes, moves and new characters are unlocked by playing through Mission mode. This is a single player mode that tasks you with challenges to complete while also doing a good job getting you to grips with everything you unlock. This single player option certainly adds some longevity to the game and if it was more extensive would probably justify purchasing the game for single player alone.
Main Event
The main events are of course tournament and custom modes. The later allowing you to pick your mode and the game turns into a best of three. If you choose tournament, six random modes are chosen and the goal is to be the gerrrm that comes out with the most points at the end. While both are decent I was disappointed you couldn’t choose the game modes featured in the tournament. Instead they’re picked at random for you. Even if you choose the game mode of your choice in custom mode the game still doesn’t let you choose the moves in the level making it less custom than it would appear.
Missed Opportunity
The gerrrms all have regular peoples names like Jessie or Kate. Seems a shame that they’re not named after actual diseases despite many of the designs appearing to look like bacterium, parasites and chromosomes. Whilst playing around with the game in general I felt there was a missed opportunity to teach players about real diseases, especially since its appearance is of a family friendly design. Yes, I respect these are video games and we’re supposed to have fun and not think. But sometimes I like it when developers try to teach you something as well. It feels like a opportunity was missed here.
I really didn’t warm to the music of this game. Happy over the top beats that felt like they belonged in some cheesy cartoon. It just didn’t really fit the experience. So that got turned down and the podcasts got turned on. The sound effects of the gerrrms were fine though. There’s also an impressive use of the joy con vibrations as your bouncing around the levels.
Pull a Sickie
I certainly had some issues with Gerrrms but much like a weird gaming virus I couldn’t help but come back for another round. Despite my difficulty with the controls I was drawn in and had a lot of fun playing with bots. If I was having a sick day I certainly wouldn’t mind firing this up although I’d rather not catch any of the weird gerrrms featured in this game.
Final Verdict: I like It
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