A Brutal Blast from the Album Covers of the Past
One of the perks of being a games reviewer, apart from subjecting you all to my thoughts, is the ability to play games that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up.
The subject of today’s review is, in fact, one of those games, going by the name of ChainStaff. Coming from Mommy’s Best Games, it is described as a “brutal action platformer”, and it certainly sounded interesting when I booted it up. Just be warned though – this is a weird one!
Gory Detail
Kicking off with the presentation, and there is no doubt that ChainStaff has a somewhat unique look. I couldn’t place my finger on where I’d seen the art style before until I read the Xbox store page and realised that it has been inspired by album covers from the 70’s and 80’s. Now, being a mature gamer, I remember these albums from the first time around, and the graphical style certainly appeals.
And then, in-game, it comes together nicely too; the action and the backdrops of the various levels we find ourselves in are depicted very well, and every gruesome death that plays out is depicted in loving, gory detail. One thing I didn’t like was the animation in the cutscenes, which has a weird, stilted look to it: almost like the puppets we used to make in school with the pins holding the joints together. Add in the vacant look on character faces and the more time you spend playing, the better, frankly.
Sound is another area where there is good news and bad. The music is extremely well done, and fits the action perfectly. The various sound effects in the levels are also bang on, if you’ll pardon the pun, with gun noises and the demise of various foes all present and correct. There is, however, no voice acting at all, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity.
A Heart-Starting Narrative
But it is with the narrative where things start to get really odd. You see, we are dead, killed in a battle with the creatures that were transformed by Star Spores, which came to our planet and caused mayhem. All is not lost, however, as an alien bug has made its home on our head, and has started our heart and breathing again. Handy! This bug also boosts our combat abilities, making us into a super soldier, albeit one with a centipede looking thing for a face.
The question is, can we defeat the Star Spores and save the world? Well, with a bit of shooting, jumping and other abilities, of course we can!
Mastering the ChainStaff
The big departure for ChainStaff is in its choice of weapons for Varl, our bug infested hero. There is a regular gun, which we can fire in any direction, and usually, this is enough to deal with the enemies. At times though, breaking out our super special weapon – the titular ChainStaff – is called for. This is an odd combination of spear and grappling hook, and is used in a variety of ways.
Charging up the ChainStaff allows us to throw it in a trajectory determined by us, and this is a great way to defeat stronger foes and attack the inevitable bosses. This is only one of its potential uses, however. It can also be used as a grappling hook, allowing us to attach to and swing on almost anything. It can be attached to the ceiling and used to swing across gaps, we can hang from a wall and attack with the gun, and we can also use it to climb walls, believe it or not.
Add in the ability to throw it into the ground to act as a shield from enemy projectiles, to use it to hold open gaps in the scenery and many more, and the uses are limited almost only by your imagination. Certainly, using the ChainStaff in novel ways is part and parcel of the boss fights, and this is a great deal of fun.
Progress through the levels ensures that there are various things to find and make use of. There are fragments of the ChainStaff, for instance, and collecting four of them will allow you power the ChainStaff up, in a variety of ways. Of course, power is always handy, but maybe you want to throw it faster? There are also parasites to be found that enable us to utilise new abilities: one adds itself to our gun, as an example, and then allows us to use a flamethrower type attack to clear vines blocking our path. Can you find them all?
Moral Dilemmas
The last things we need to find are wounded soldiers, and here comes a choice. Will you save them, awarded tech points in the process which then allows for additional weapons and power ups? Or will you eat their hearts, which gives extra health?
The last option is to eat their brains, but be warned: if you keep eating the soldiers, the NPC’s seem to find this displeasing, and may even take action. I decided to save the majority to be on the safe side!
Hard, Brutal, and Imaginative
ChainStaff is an interesting proposition. The gameplay is hard, brutal even, and trial and error is encouraged to see what you can do to use the ChainStaff to defeat foes. With multiple difficulty levels to go at, and a series of increasingly hard levels, mastering the traversal mechanic and the ChainStaff is vital. But also very good fun.
Ignore the rough edges and give it a go, would be my strong recommendation.
Important Links
The Fast And Brutal Combat Of ChainStaff Is Now Available! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-fast-and-brutal-combat-of-chainstaff-is-now-available/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/chainstaff/9PMBBN7NW5VP/0017
