High-Quality and Memorable Torture. A Review of the Survival Horror Silly Polly Beast
Does a falling tree make a sound if no one is around? Can an indie game be good if it's full of nuances? What if the gameplay process squeezes all the juices out of the player but still hits the heart? Let's find out in our review!
Escape to the Other World
From the first seconds, the game captivates with its colorful and memorable visual style. The menu is designed as a mobile phone, where you can see the reflection of the main character's face. The young lady's name is Polina, and she is a mute orphan who participated in the evacuation during the burning of an orphanage for children like her.
The player is immersed in the realities of the post-Soviet space, where Polly is wanted by the police. While trying to escape, the girl falls into the sewer and ends up in a local version of Purgatory – the Whirlpool. You can be sure of this when a drunkard harasses Polly, who, before her very eyes, with considerable acceleration, "kissed" the asphalt.
Polly was saved from the wrath of the Whirlpool by a creature named the Tormented One. It offered a deal: Polly kills three demons, and in return, the Tormented One brings her back to life. In most cases, the girl's "answers" do not matter – the plot is linear, and the ending depends on the number of horns left on her head.
The Black Mist is Like a Deception
To get to the demons, you will have to face the Mist. This is a creature covering the entire Whirlpool, inside which the cursed ones live – if you get close, you will take serious damage. Many have sworn allegiance to the Mist and become its faithful warriors. They wear animal masks and patrol every corner of the Whirlpool.
The Mist is opposed by partisans who are trying to fight for freedom and identity. Polly joins the resistance to gain access to the teleport network. In return, she must destroy the servants of the Mist on her way and receive money for the cleared territory. The servants are reborn after returning to the location, but only once do masks fall from them, which are needed to open passages and buy bonuses in a secret place.
The neutral side is the store, where goods are sold for crazy money. You need to save for a long time to afford a first-aid kit or a local version of a grenade. During all the time of the playthrough, I bought Polly a new jacket – preferring to knock the rest out of the enemies. But here you can go to the toilet and look at your reflection – a rare feature even for games from large developers, and this is indie!
Moving between portals is associated with solving various tasks. Often the passage is blocked by a grate that disappears after the destruction of eggs located everywhere. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the body of an imp, but before that you will have to drag it to the place of sacrifice. Worst of all, when you need to find and activate objects with numbers in the correct order to open the passage.
The most fun is to go through the skateboarding sections. In it, you need to dodge and jump over obstacles in time to get to the next level. Polly can jump and crouch on a skateboard, but the developer apparently cut out the sections with obstacles for the last trick – thanks for that, because it's difficult enough without it!
Hellish Battle
The levels are inhabited by groups of enemies, which it is desirable to get rid of. Polly can pull a hood over her head, which allows you to explore the environment. Such reconnaissance allows you to find traps that can be used to your advantage. Or a predatory stump that kills a random enemy for larvae.
In battle, Polly is able to hit with a skateboard, shoot from a pistol and throw exploding larvae – the same ones that can be fed to a stump. Over time, it will be possible to use one of the additional guns. The problem is that cartridges and necessary items rarely fall out – you will have to run with low health and save supplies for the most evil opponents. The pistol is powered by barrels and killed enemies, but the damage it deals leaves much to be desired.
Standard enemies attack in a crowd and differ in behavior. Dogs take away half of their health with one bite, and fat men get on all fours and rush into the attack with great speed – they can be stopped with a blow to the head. Some turn into a set of claws after death – if you get close to them, death will be quick.
Enemies in masks are able to shoot, attack and block with a shield, throw grenades and stones. Their more elite version imposes protection on itself, heals and calls for reinforcements. Moreover, summoners become invulnerable for the duration of the call of allies — it will not be possible to remove them quickly.
Because of this, battles turn into a set of panic rolls and attempts to deal damage. At the same time, it is very easy to fly into the fog or stumble upon a mine on legs. But if you can get used to such inconveniences, then you will not be able to adapt to the enemies to the end – many do not indicate attacks, and they take a minimum break between preparation and impact.
Each boss battle is unique and exciting, and the main villain finds his own way to cause inconvenience. It is best to play on the nerves of the final boss. In the first phase, the boss can summon three dogs next to Polly, which take away half of their health for a bite – the game has no invulnerability frames and you can die in a second. In the final phase, the boss is fenced off by a wall of shields, and I ran around for ten minutes and killed the summoned opponents. Going into the Fog helped to remove the shields, which was a bad idea throughout the game — illogical and slightly infuriating!
Diagnosis
It is striking that Silly Polly Beast was made by one person! With all its sadistic inclinations, this is a great game with outstanding visual style and music. During the playthrough, you enjoy the plot, responsive controls and a variety of obstacles that need to be overcome. This is a unique experience that will take you 10 hours to complete.
It is gratifying that the game has already become famous – thanks to its complexity. I passed the game on "hard", and I can say with confidence: the weak balance and many perverse elements of the gameplay are to blame for the failures, not yourself. However, the developer listened to the criticism of the players and announced that he is working on polishing. And whether to give the game a chance now or wait for the release of the "lightening" patch – this choice depends only on you.
In any case — we recommend it!
