Biped review

Exceptional

by Telasmorlass

Intro Notes

I wrote this for a subreddit a while ago back when I was ill, but it works perfectly fine for RAWG as well.

Do note one thing - this review is for the PC version. Unfortunately, the PS4 version does not have online-CoOp, however, the developers have stated that they are working on it, so fingers crossed that they add it in. I cannot state enough how the lack of online CoOp hurts Biped for the PS4, but to give you an example - for PC, this game gets an exceptional from me, but for PS4, I'd go as far as to give it a Meh in its current state. So, this review is for the PC.

My Review:

In my opinion, Biped is one of the most interesting CoOp games released this year (so far). Though the game can be played in Single Player, I personally found local CoOp to be the most fun (Online CoOp works as well) as co-ordinating with a partner is where a lot of the charm of the game is - Single Player just misses this. The best part (for me at least) is that Biped somehow avoids the pitfalls of CoOp frustration as the devs seem to know what good game design is and have made it fun, even when you mess up.

The game is simple, you take control of 2 robots named Aku and Sila and you are tasked with preventing a blackout on the world by reactivating special beacons (innocent fun for all ages).

At this point, I'd say that Biped is a puzzle game more than anything else, simply because to complete a level you (and your partner in CoOp) need to complete puzzles to progress, these can be simple like stepping on coloured tiles that relate to your robot's colour, or more complex balancing acts, pully systems (with ropes), or stepping on coded patterns in a right sequence. My favourite part of CoOp is that it is almost always a two-way street, you first help your partner to go forward, but then they need to help you to catch up (sometimes your routes are split making it more interesting).

There is a single-player mode, and the challenges have been very well adapted for SP mode, but the experience is lacking the fun that CoOp mode gives you.

While I say that half of the fun comes from the CoOp mode and the puzzles, the other half comes from the controls. This is were Biped really sets itself apart from any other game that I recently played as you have 2 legs and you control them independently (mouse or gamepad). This does sound simple, but even within the tutorial level I quickly found movement to be fun. What stood out to me the most about the movement system was that this game intentionally made basic movement challenging, while still being fun. That made me really think about how movement in many other games has been completely oversimplified and I really appreciated the extra control in Biped.

My personal favorite level in Biped is level 5 where you and your CoOp partner are tethered together by a bungee rope, so if you fall, your partner may be able to save you - but a mistake by your partner may drag you down as well!