Overall Feeling: I’m not sure
(Review code kindly provided by Sonka)
A mix of mystery, sci-fi and mild horror
There is an old saying that goes “you learn something new everyday”. That is true for this reviewer as while playing Earthworms on the Nintendo Switch l discovered who Edward Hopper was. If you, like me, don’t know: Edward was an America realist painter. And Earthworms has 34 locations inspired by Edward Hoppers work.
Developer All Those Moments made an abstract point and click adventure/ puzzle game with a mix of mystery, sci-fi with some mild horror. Add to that a dose of humor and some weirdness while you find yourself in a surreal world.
Get to know Daniel White
Daniel White is our protagonist, a detective who has a special ability of also being a parapsychic.The game starts in Daniel’s office as there is a knock on the door which Daniel opens to find someone dressed in a ghillie or camouflage suit who hands Daniel a photo saying someone needs his help.
Daniel soon discovers that the person in the photo is a girl called Lydia who is missing. Daniel sets out to the Island of Dar to find Lydia and he realises there is more going on than just a missing person case. Strange things are occurring on the island involving chopped up tentacles, a corpse in a sarcophagus and a teleporter.
A short tutorial explains what buttons to press, X to open the backpack, Y brings up the to do list and a press of B brings up pictures of visions Daniel has had. Earthworms can also be controlled via the touch screen and that works quite well, though I did find I had to click twice the odd time to get the response I wanted. Pro- controller and single joy-con options are available for those that wish to play that way.
There are no save points, there’s manual save only, luckily you are reminded about that during the many load screens so you can’t forget.
Multiple endings possible
There are few endings to Earthworms, positive and negative endings which I have seen both of on my play through. The length of the game is short to say the least around 2 to 3 hours to complete the game in one sitting. That is, if you are used to the point and click genre, maybe add another hour on to that playtime for those not used to the style of game. For the price point of £7.19 I would have liked a slightly longer game.
Conclusion
Earthworms has a sort of film noir look that I really wasn’t very fond off and found a bit dull and drab in places. On the other hand, Earthworms has an ambient music score that is good and works well with the game.
I like and have played point and click games before, but I found the storyline a bit odd. Even after completing the game twice I can’t really say at the end of the game I was any wiser as regards to the understanding the story.
I would score Earthworms a Not Sure.
