Unbox is a retro-inspired physics platformer about cardboard boxes….Yes, you read correctly – Cardboard boxes. Currently you are most likely making the face that I made when I first starting playing, which was a mixture of confusion and hunger…Uh…S-Sorry I was waiting for my dinner to cook! (It was steak in case you were wondering – It was really damn good) However, you are not here to find our about my eating habits, nor my taste in steak! You want to know is this game any good; well, good news – I’m about to lay it down on you.
Let’s start with the graphics and stylistic choice of this little beauty – So much detail went in to this game and you can tell the devs at Prospect Games put a lot of love and attention in to every nook and cranny; the recommended specs suggest a GTX 960, however I was only rocking a GTX 660 and the game looks absolutely perfect, with the levels themselves looking so beautiful, it made me want to explore every single section of this game to see the next sight…
The gameplay, to start, was very strange as you are literally a box rolling around – Luckily the game has a quick tutorial at the start to help you on your way; this did take me a bit longer than it should have due to laughing at the fact that this was the first videogame to put me into the shoes (Do boxes wear shoes?) of a carboard box…The controls are fairly simple, jump, double jump (which can only be used 6 times unless replenished), slam and of course, rolling around. You can also make use of the world’s many vehicles to get around or just for fun.
The best part about the game, for me at least, was the fact you can see Prospect Games have taken inspiration from some of the best retro 3D platformers of the past, such as Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Gex, and Spyro the Dragon to name a few – This for me was really nice because as well as the game feeling new and bringing its own flavour to the genre, it also made me feel a bit nostalgic as I was a lover of 3D platfomers as a child; the game even has a multiplayer split screen mode which just makes it feel that much more classic.
I have to say, this game took me by surprise as initially, and like many, I thought “How can a game about being a box be any fun…?” Well, boy was I wrong! This game is full of fun and a lot of content, as well tonnes of challenges; the levels them selves are huge, giving it the feel of a sizeable open world which you can explore – If you just fancy seeing what goodies the levels are hiding, then you’re free to explore to your heart’s content. I did spend a large portion of my time just rolling around, getting a feel for areas which came in handy with some of the challenges as well.
As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this game and of course I’m going to tell you to buy it, as it is a beautiful game that Prospect Games have created, but not just because of this – No…It’s because this game is pure gold in my eyes; they have taken aspects of retro platformers that struck a nostalgic chord with me, melding them all together to make an amazing game that can truly stand on its own and for an indie game I do find that is a very rare thing.
I am going to give Unbox a very satisfying 8/10
Check out the steam page here >> Unbox Steam page
Check out the trailer below