Clive 'N' Wrench

I got to try out the new Clive and Wrench by Numskill games, their first stab into platforming, and from what I saw, they have a really good idea on how to make a fun, easy to play game. Sure there are performance issues, and the graphics arent something to scream home about BUT and a huge BUT (heh) Clive'N'Wrench does something not many recent platformers do. Remind you of the better times, and have so many similarities to the platformer classics, like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter! You get silly puns, you get some interesting characters and really cool level designs, however these are quite basic but definitely a brilliant start for this if they were to continue making this kind of game. There is oddness when there is no speaking dialogue (but im a **** for audio) and it does just stick you in the deep end with very little pointers or ingame cut-scenes to help you understand where you are in the game, However theres more throwbacks and references than you can shake 2 sticks at! For example 'Plonkers' in ref to Conkers bad fur day, Theres a rabbit running around with a treasure (like in spyro with a dragon egg thief) In the london town theres even someone who bought something from a 'Trotter' no doubt an Only fools and Horses reference. On a whole I really enjoyed my time on Clive'N'Wrench and hope that the franchise continues, or updates come to fix a few Quality of life improvements that would help the game so much. Clive 'N' Wrench is a 3D platformer starring Clive, a rabbit, and Wrench, the literal monkey on his back. Your adventure takes you hurtling through time and space in a 1950's refrigerator on a heroic quest to thwart the tyrannical Dr Daucus and stop his evil plans.

Proceed with caution. This game is filled to the brim with problems. There's fun to be had, yet there are so many questionable design choices that I can't recommend this game in good faith. The controls are poor, it's ugly, the level design is confusing, all the sounds in this game feel generic and there are so many bugs. But the absolute worst though, the pacing is completely off. It's either braindead easy or so painfully hard it stops being enjoyable. The only good thing about it is that the areas are fun to explore. Once gone through them though is enough for me and using a guide without going crazy is absolutely necessary. This game got a very alpha feel to it, a first draft of some sort. It by no means feels like a product that is almost 30 bones. Even at half price (which I paid for) it feels like too much.

Clive ‘N’ Wrench has a lot of potential but is too buggy to complete. The camera has a mind of its own and in “platform” sections where the camera locks to side scrolling, I generally find myself missing the front of platforms as the player movement is still in 3 dimensions. I’ve also had to restart in several section as the player animation gets stuck in “hanging” and I can’t move or get stuck on a ledge. Clipping graphics, getting randomly catapulted across levels, this is only the tip of the bug iceberg and have had many other weird things happen. It’s a shame as I really wanted to like this game.