Caveman Warriors (Xbox One) Indie One Shot

Remember back in the day (if you're old enough) when you'd go to the arcade with your buddies, line up in front of a cabinet, all drop your coins in and team up to get as far as you could on whatever change you had? Well, forget the quarters, but bring the friends, because that's exactly how you'll feel when you fire up Caveman Warriors.

The story might be the lowest point of the game, as it just seems to act like a minimal purpose for the game to even exist, but nothing envigorating that pulls at your heart strings. Aliens have swooped in and kidnapped all the cave-babies in the village. It's up to our four heroes, Jack, Liliana, Moe and Brienne to traverse the worlds, crossing space and time, to save and get them back.

Level designs are incredibly fun. Caveman Warriors, all of them being side scroll and you beating up all your enemies on the way. There are a number of platforming elements to deal with, some which are within the level themselves such as tilting platforms and water spouts that you'll need to j

ump across the top off. There's also elements that will require one of the characters special abilities. Liliana's spear can be thrown, and there are some rock walls where there spear can stick, giving you an extra platform for jumping if the wall is super high.

Combat is extremely simple with almost all enemies going down in a single hit. Some levels give you a mini boss to fight which can take a few hits, as well as an actual boss which will be almost the most challenging part of the game. These fights are short, have a few phases, and the bosses hit for brutal damage if any of their attacks make contact.

What will be most challenging about this game is it's almost Dark Souls mentality of how much you have to try and press to get through the levels. Some levels will feel like they have little to no checkpoints, meaning death brings you all the way back to the beginning. It wouldn't be so frustrating if it were more of a consistent hurdle, but it's apparent in just the first two levels that this is not the case. The first level I counted at least four or five checkpoints, while I traversed the same distance in the second level to find not a single checkpoint.

Still, what's great about this game is it's old-school persistence. There are no handouts or gimmes to help you along the way, you either overcome what's in your path, or you'll be stuck trying over and over. What's more, is the game supports up to four person multiplayer, but if you have to go it alone you are able to switch freely between any of the four characters. No worries about being stuck when it comes to a specific hurdle like a rock wall if you've not chosen Liliana. After playing this solo though, I'd have to say to make sure and bring at least one friend along, it will make things a lot easier coordinating multiple enemies as well as bosses.

Rating : 7.5/10
Developed and Published By : JanduSoft
Also Available On PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam