DYE

DYE is the kind of platformer that makes you throw your controller into that expensive 4K television. That makes the €5 priced game (at launch) a little expensive in the long run. I’m the guy that likes to play these platforming torture games but DYE left me with a disappointing and frustrating feeling. It fails something that is crucial for this kind of genre, know more? Be sure to read this review! 

THE GOOD

• The A to B level design is pretty good, the slow-paced start explains how everything works and the game seems to be specifically made with speedrunners in mind. I love the idea behind the world hubs too, giving the game a larger picture. Each new world hub features some clever platforming mechanics, good for eight to ten-hour gameplay. Question is if you can reach the new world hubs though, the difficult gameplay and control issues (more about that later) can become a tremendous task.
• A great selection of upbeat songs makes the soundtrack from DYE really good. Replaying a level over and over again isn’t a problem for your ears as the music doesn’t become tiresome. Pretty important for this genre, no?

MIXED FEELINGS

• The colour transitions are nice to see but the simplistic visuals could have used a little bit more attention to really stand out. I personally liked the old school graphics but missed some extra eye catchers. Boss fights however are impressive and screen filling.

THE BAD

• It doesn’t happen much but while playing DYE some prehistoric caveman anger found a place in my mind. The inaccurate control of this game is hard to believe. You literally die more times than you can count because of the control issues. Landing a jump or after floating with your playable character is a disaster, for a game that requires too much accurate gameplay it is really frustrating. I’m not quite sure how two-man developer Bat Country Games failed to see this before releasing DYE. While the underlying structure for the game is quite decent it is the control problems that totally destroy any good that the game has, that might be a little harsh for this cheap little game but even free or cheap games should remain fun.
• Keeping levels locked by having a minimum required amount of collectibles is great for replaying older levels but might become annoying if you just want to play some new stuff. The balance will be hard to reach for some players so be prepared to replay and backtrack a lot before you can finally reach a new level. Hard levels don’t have a checkpoint system, making the control issues even more apparent and frustrating.

DYE [Score: 5,5/10] Making a game part time after work and on weekends shows how passionate you are about it, I highly respect the two developers from DYE (and Aeon Command) for that. Sadly enough, DYE has a few negatives that can’t be overlooked, speedrunners and challenging platformer fans will likely enjoy the game but it is hard to recommend for other players, even for the low €5 price point. That said, want to support small teams or just try the game? Go ahead, it is one of the cheaper games on the Xbox Store. 

 Dev: Bat Country Games Publisher: Bat Country Games
Played on: Xbox One | LifeisXbox received a digital Preview code, provided by the developer.