Pinstripe

Dark atmospheric platformers are coming out on a monthly basis lately, the somewhat bizarre Pinstripe is another one of those, from developer Armor Games. Searching for your three-year old daughter Bo , that has been kidnapped by scary looking Mr. Pinstripe.  Let us take a look in this review if Pinstripe is a game that is worth your attention. 

THE GOOD

• Huge props for the sound department from Pinstripe, starting with the excellent voice actors. Some really great performances but Dick Terhune really stands out as Mr. Pinstripe, giving a believable and daunting voice. The same can be said about the dreamy soundtrack and ambience, it is a real delight to see such a great accomplishment for a small game like Pinstripe. Wonderful work!
• Sound is tremendous but the visual work isn’t that far behind. Pinstripe has this immediate recognizable style that gives the game a dark and almost gothic-look.  From the long and tiny legs from characters, sad-looking prisoners and beautiful created environments it is hard to not feel inspired by the work from Armor Games. The way everything moves is great too, lots of time and attention has been spent on animations and it shows. Making playable character Teddy look strong and vulnerable at the same time and giving the evil Mr. Pinstripe his demon-like movement that makes players feel uncomfortable.
• The platforming is a little disappointing but the puzzles are really fun to play and discover. Finding differences between almost identical screens (mini game) and for example the hidden text puzzle in the Sack Chute level are original, fresh and fun to complete. It may be a little easy though but fun nonetheless.

Mixed Feelings

• The mysterious and dark story starts really strong with a great introduction from playable character Teddy and his daughter Bo. I have to say that the beginning was one of the most intriguing and simply scary starts I have played in a long time.  It doesn’t hold that line though, and immediately starts to water down when you leave the train. The story remains decent enough but misses some twists and emotion, the developer really tries to keep the player engaged but it didn’t really work for me.
• The game has a lot of replay value and multiple play through tasks like buying a Tommy gun, the setting and atmosphere always lures you back in. I do wish that the game was a little bit longer and didn’t artificially made the game longer with forced backtracking.

THE BAD

• The great art and sound doesn’t make up for the way too simplistic 2D gameplay that reduces the game to an average and sometimes boring game. With the real lack of challenge you never really have a sense of danger, enemies are almost non-existent and killed so easily. The game might be a frightening thing to experience but that quickly fades away by the lack of threat and difficulty.
• Near the middle of the game you have to buy a ticket with frozen drops (300). Forcing you to backtrack all the previous levels and finding all hidden drops. You do this by shooting specific objects with your fire catapult.  I’m sure that quite a few players will quit playing the game in this section, either they will have no clue what to do or don’t want to bother backtracking all the way to the beginning. (Note: it doesn’t take that long but still)

Pinstripe [Score: 7.2/10] Fantastic sound and visuals but the most important thing was a little forgotten, Gameplay. While Pinstripe is surely a game I can recommend to play, the potential was astonishing and Armor Games didn’t reach that high level. One thing is for sure though, I won’t easily forget Mr. Pinstripe.. what a haunting character!

Dev: Armor Games Publisher: Armor Games
Played on: Xbox One X | LifeisXbox received a digital review code, provided by Armor Games.