Grave Danger (Switch)
(Review edited Aug 2nd 2018; due to version 1.0.2 removing glitches in the game)
Game: Grave Danger
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Spotted Shark Studio
Publisher: Joindots
Age Rating: 7+ (EU) / 10+ (US)
Price: £17.99 | €19.99 | $19.99
Release Date: June 28th on Switch e-shop
(The game is also available on PS4 and Steam)
Review Code kindly provided by Spotted Shark Studio
The Unlikeliest of Partnerships
When a cowboy, a wizard and a reaper are cast as outlaws; they must team up to try and clear their names.
Grave Danger (Swit
Gameplay & Controls
Grave Danger (Switch)
Grave Danger puts you in control of Dante, Elliot and Malice; a cowboy, a wizard and a reaper (respectively). You must use their individual skills to reach the exit while avoiding hazards and defeating enemies. It’s impossible to progress through the game without all three; which makes it a little more challenging.
Wanted posters are around levels to collect and at the end of each level you receive a grade. Not sure if the grades amount to anything, but it’s interesting to know and may spur the player to replay levels to get a better grade.
Each of the characters have their own skills and attack strength; deciding on which to use to progress through the levels is where the puzzle element comes in. Timing is also key in traversing through the levels safely, if you are not careful and get the timing wrong; then our outlaws will surely perish.
There are no life counters in Grave Danger, when a character dies they become a spirit (that includes the reaper oddly enough). You can move their spirit around to look ahead in the level, or to travel back to the last graveyard they visited to revive (but they can’t go through walls unfortunately).
To get the player familiar with the controls, there are question marks dotted around that provide information to help the player (you can skip them if you prefer). There is an option to use the pro controller but no touch screen controls (it’s not a game that would benefit from using the touch screen so no loss there).
You can play local co-op with a friend at anytime but there isn’t an online mode unfortunately. You can also choose whether to play in single screen mode or split screen mode via the pause menu. Although there are 3 characters only 2 people can play at a time; both players can switch between the characters but you cannot be the same character simultaneously – its decent as a single player game but more fun with a friend.
Graphics, Designs & Soundtrack
Grave Danger (Switch)
Grave Danger has a 2D graphic style with a good balance of colour and cute with dark and weird. A number of the enemies have enough silliness to their designs to keep things light hearted.
Level designs (that I was able to play) were interesting but they didn’t vary much in the way they look – It is the layouts of the levels that make them interesting, as they make you think about which character to use and how one may help the others progress.
I did find though that some parts of levels with lifts can make things more difficult than they normally would be. A character can hop onto a lift, make it ascend but die or walk off, resulting in the lift being stuck at a height that no character can easily access (certainly not something to repeat, typically best to restart the level when it happens).
The soundtrack I liked; it’s funky, jazzy and adds another layer of fun to the levels – works great with the tone of the game and the graphical style.
Additional Comments
Grave Danger (Switch)
Grave Danger’s text is filled with humour; it’s brilliant! It works well and makes the game all the more enjoyable – there was even a line that made me think of the anime Cowboy Bebop; which was nice (whether it was a nod to the series or not, I liked it 😜).
At the time of writing this review; Grave Danger is £17.99 on the Switch e-shop, while on Steam its £7.19 – I’m not aware of any significant difference between the two versions, both are said to be the “Ultimate Edition” of the game so I am curious to why such a difference in price.
Version 1.0.1 of the game had a number of glitches, one of which prevented the player from progressing through the game pass level 1-9. As of version 1.0.2; the glitch on level 1-9 has been fixed (happy days :D). If you haven’t downloaded the game yet; you have nothing to worry about, you will receive the most recent release of the game upon downloading.
Overall Opinion
I really like Grave Danger for it’s humour, character designs, the difficulty of the levels (I like a challenge) and the music – it’s all a good mix in my view.
On the other hand though, the distance between the point of death and the graveyard was quite far in certain parts – which spoilt the flow of the game a bit. Travelling all the way back to the graveyard as a spirit, reviving, then travelling back to the part where I died, to only die again; wasn’t fun by the 4th or 5th time. If there was a way to zap a spirit back to a graveyard by a press of a button; that would have been great. It would allow the player to explore while dead (until they felt like reviving), while also reducing the amount of time going back and for between two points (doing very little to progress).
Local multiplayer is one of the biggest selling points of the Switch; so it’s good Grave Danger at least has that as an option. It is a shame that there isn’t an online mode though.
Note: I originally wrote this review playing version 1.0.1 and gave it a “not sure” rating due to a glitch preventing progression; since that glitch has been sorted I have now boosted the rating to “I like it!”
Would I recommend Grave Danger?
I recommend Grave Danger to those who like games that have plenty of humour, doesn’t take things seriously and enjoys puzzley platformers with a good (death filled) challenge.
Lead Developer Interview
If you want to learn more about Grave Danger and Spotted Shark Studios; we did an interview with the Lead Developer Cody Anderson a few weeks ago. You can find the article in the link below.
>> GRAVE DANGER: INTERVIEW WITH DEVELOPER CODY <<
Game Trailer
Grave Danger (Switch)