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Reviewed On: PS5
Also Available On: Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and PC
Price: $6.99 USD
Developer: Cosy Computer
Publisher: Raw Fury
Release Date: September 28, 2023
Please Note: A review code was provided by Raw Fury but does not influence the opinions in this review.
Causing havoc as a goose in Panics’ Untitled Goose Game back in 2019 was very fun. I wished more games came out with similar concepts but had their own twists on the ideas shown in that game. Well, Cosy Computer and Raw Fury gladly answered my request with Pizza Possum. This game was one of the most chaotic gaming experiences this year in the best way possible. I mean, a possum causing confusion, frustration, and panicked feelings to many individuals was just fun beyond belief. Am I more evil after playing this game? Maybe just a little bit.
In terms of a story, there isn’t one that is going to be remembered. You are a possum that wants to steal Bella Chonki’s personal gigantic pizza. In order to do that, you need to eat your way to the top of the map while also being sneaky with the guards around the area. To get the ending of the game and roll credits, you have to get to the pizza three times in a row without being caught. Once you do, a cutscene unlocks and the game is “over”. At first, this seems like it is an impossible task, but trust me, its definitely doable. Again, not memorable for a story, but the story here isn’t that important in my book.
The objective is quite simple. Eat your way to the top of the map where you eat the pizza. Well, you can’t just run up the map, rather you have to unlock the different areas by eating enough food to acquire gate keys. The higher you go on the map, the more points are needed to unlock the next area. Some of the areas you don’t even need to unlock. There is more than one way to approach the climb. Part of the issue and strategy is, if you eat too much at once, you become bloated and move slower and become easier to capture. Some of the areas are patrolled with more enemies than others so you have to plan accordingly. Speaking of which, if you get caught by the enemies you’ll have to start at the beginning, unless you activate the checkpoints that are scattered around. Once you have one or two pizzas devoured, make sure you play very carefully to not lose those crowns by being stealthy.
In order to help you climb the mountain and not get caught, there are bushes to hide in. There are also 20 Zeppole on the island that are collectables and will net you many points. Some are harder to find than others, but they are worth going to get if possible. There are items that are unlocked as you progress with the number of points you get after you get captured. Some of these items include a eye mask that makes you harder to be detected, or a smoke bomb that came in clutch for me most of the time with the pizza at the top, or a speed boost that will make you move quicker. There are a lot more items that will unlock, but these are probably some of my favorite ones as they really are helpful. There are others that I don’t find as helpful such as the blockade or the Dog head that is nice but doesn’t last very long and you can only have one consumable one equipped at a time, so smoke bombs are what I usually used. Otherwise, the game is pretty simple and can be summarized with these five words: eat, unlock, climb, hide, and win. Seems pretty simple, but there are parts that are quite intense especially at the top.
The voices and audio in the game are great even though they aren’t real dialogued spoken lines. Rather it is speaking in the form of animal sounds or effects that make you feel a joy of causing disruption throughout the different parts of the map. One of my favorite examples, is the possum will laugh if a guard who was on the hunt eventually stops hunting. I think that is absolutely terrific that he will laugh at the guard behind their back. The eating of the food, and everything else for that matter, also has a great sound design done. The music in the game was good but not terrific, but honestly I liked the audio queues around me a bit more.
The art is pretty nice even though it is quite simplistic. I love the look of the possum and all of the enemies as well. There is enough variety of the enemies where nothing got too boring throughout the time. The food actually, at least on PS5, looked very nice as well. Not super detailed like some hyper realistic game, but detailed enough to see what food you were grabbing. I thought the art was all around well crafted with the many different areas of the map from the village, to the seaport, to the vineyard, to all of the others as well. There was enough variety that it never felt you were in the same area for too long. In terms of art and sound designs, they are both very much well crafted.
For almost the same price of a fast food meal deal, this game is a no brainer to purchase and play. If you enjoy silly games with friends, crazy antics, and/or causing mayhem, this is a game for you. I can’t fault anything that I experienced in the game and it will definitely be a hands down one of my favorite adventures of the year, even if it also one of the shorter games I played. Even though I cant fault the game, I don’t think its anything super duper extraordinary. I love when games don’t add fluff and junk that is pointless just to add on more time for the experience. This game never adds pointless things to do just to add length to the game. Causing mayhem for guards was just fun all around, even when they occasionally captured me throughout my four hour adventure, including my platinum trophy hunt time. Unfortunately, I don’t this will be my indie game of the year; however, with how many games both AAA and indies are releasing, it will probably be one of the most memorable titles that I will look back on in years to come.
Review Score: 8.5/10
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