Lost Socks: Naughty Brothers, from indie developers NERF-GAME, is an old school Runner with Arcade sensibilities in which you, the fire-arm toting blue sock (who we can only assume from his weapon capabilities is 100% cotton) must fight through hordes of monsters to rescue his fellow socks.
What the game does right, and perhaps best, is visual presentation. The game is a beautifully designed cartoon landscape, with bright friendly colours that compliments the quirky nature of the game and the characters. Aesthetically it is very detailed and this also translates to the characters in the game as well. The actual character design is well done, however I would have liked more personality and characterization from the main character. Let’s be honest, playing as a sock is a pretty unique idea for a protagonist, and they had the opportunity there to make something as unique as say Earthworm Jim, a character brimming with personality and humour from his mannerisms alone. It does fall short of that sadly, just missing out on that unique personality that would have made this game a much more fun-filled experience.
Also, although the levels are great from an aesthetic perspective, I did feel that there was a distinct lack of variety. Yes there were different “zones” in the game after you completed so many levels, but I felt that despite this each zone offered very similar layouts throughout, and nothing stood out as particularly original here. On a gameplay level I found Lost Socks to be enjoyable, and the often fast paced nature of the action made for an at times lively gaming experience. By breaking it down to the bare essentials, including jump, two weapon options and a glide which helps you crack through the cages imprisoning your sock allies, it allows for an uncomplicated playing style which makes it certainly more accessible to a wider audience in terms of age and experience as a gamer.
However, an aspect of the game that I found to be disappointing is the act of having to play levels again if you haven’t saved enough socks to progress to the next zone. Perhaps I’m being cynical with a game in which you are a happy little sock on an adventure, but this did feel like unnecessary padding to me, and I would have much rather just progressed through each level rather than having to backtrack at times.
Overall I would say that despite this game having its moments of enjoyment through its gameplay and having a bright and visually appealing world to play in the game does sadly miss the mark on providing the players with something unique. I can definitely see this being popular with more casual gamers or people who want something to play without having to delve in to something too complex and for short bursts, but for me I feel the game could have done more to make me want to revisit it, by providing more variety in the levels and more of an identity to the characters. I do however see a lot of potential for NERF-GAME as this was definitely a great looking game and control wise it was nice to just jump straight into it, so I do look forward to seeing what they have to offer in the future.
All in all, I would rate Lost Socks, a 6/10
You can check out their Steam Page here!
James Burch.