I make a point of not being an overly negative reviewer here at Bif Bam Pop. I mean, I’m just some guy sitting here while others out there creating stuff. What do I know?
Well, I know that Paranautical Activity is not fun on any level that I can fathom. I didn’t enjoy playing it and I wouldn’t recommend it to others.
I don’t think that Paranautical Activity is a good video game. There, I said it.
Styled in a Minecraft-esque blocky animated style, Paranautical Activity plays a little bit like a sped up version of Goldeneye without any of the fun stuff that made that game a classic. You choose from four characters, without profile pics which was kind of odd, and charge out into a dungeon. No back story. No introductions. Oh, and no lives. One death, zip, right back to the start. Apparently, this is called “perma-death” and it’s a thing. Well, its a stupid thing then, because for a casual gamer like myself, getting one chance to do a thing is not enough to hold my interest.
The graphics – gosh, I’d like to say something nice about how fun and quirky they are, but they aren’t either of those things to me. If I was 21 and this game was out for my Nintendo 64, I’d find them weak at best. Maybe if this was a game that my nephew made at college in his spare time I would be impressed, but as a release for a major video game system, I just don’t get it.
One of the selling features of Paranautical Activity in its promo is the “pulsating dub-step sound track.” My limited experience with the genre not-withstanding, I can say that I’m pretty sure its the music they play right before you get waterboarded in a CIA black site.
To get a second opinion on the game, I gave my seven-year-old boy a spin on it. This kid loves video games and has an iron will when it comes to sticking things out and winning at them. After about ten minutes he offered his review:
“I give it an “s” for sucks.”
So there it is. To the folks that created Paranautical Activity, tip of the hat for doing a thing and having a goal and all that stuff. I hope that you find an audience, the game sells and you make nice stacks of money for your time and energy.
But, as far as this reviewer is concerned, “s” for sucks pretty much sums it up.
