The Walking Vegetables: Radical Edition – What would you get if you’d put Randy “Macho Man” Savage, the binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon and a few tomatoes and carrots into a mixing bowl? You’d get exactly what you see before you. The game is exactly what it promises to be, cooky, quirky, full of high-octane action and vegetables. And to be honest, when I first saw the trailer I wasn’t fully sold on the game and its concept. It looked kind of off and really didn’t seem like it would be a fun experience to slog through. But what I discovered when I started playing and really experienced the game? Was that I shouldn’t have gone by what the trailer shows. Want to know why? You’ll read all about it in our review! So, put your chef’s hat on, grab the sharpest of knives and load up your revolver, because we’re going to be making some veggie soup tonight boys!
What is good?
- Sound: Audio wise this game is fresh and enjoyable. At first it took me a while to appreciate it, but after a few rounds I was hitting the tunes hard and shooting me up some mean onions (Yes, those are actually a thing). Not only that, the guns sound enjoyable as well. Well, maybe the Uzi… that one sounds annoying. Add on top of that, a soundtrack that compliments the fast-paced action? And you’ll have yourself a recipe that lets the adrenaline soar through your veins baby! OOOOH YEAH.
- Replayability: There is a ton of replay value here. To start off, every new round is procedurally generated. So, each level will be different. One round you’d be getting a mix of aliens and veggies, the other you’ll be going up into a world of hurt with all kinds of dodgy small carrots and broccoli, trying to nibble at your giblets. Add some different unlocks that you’ll gain along the way? And you’ll be getting an entirely different experience on every run!
- Weapons: There are different types of guns in this game. These range from pistols to machine guns, shotguns and snipers. Hell, even alien weaponry is given a chance to be discovered in the game’s RNG. You even have all types of throwables like Molotov cocktails, sponges even a god damn cup of coffee! So, as you can tell already, the game holds no bars into what is and what isn’t a useable weapon!
- Difficulty: The difficulty scaling in the walking veggies is perfect for its high-speed gameplay and the over the top shooting action. It first starts you off easy. Not trying to overwhelm you, lulling you into a sense of safety. But once you are in and you’ve gotten your first new gun? It starts upping the veggie count and tries to bum-rush you with the power of vitamins. Well, not that, but it does attempt to make you die quite often, trust me! Though that doesn’t matter. And let’s not forget about the bosses. These guys have their own pattern and attacks. Not only that, they act as amazing bullet sponges as well. So, if you’re going into the boss zone, please don’t forget to stock up on ammo, you’ll need it!
Mixed Feelings
- Glitchy: On occasion items would drop from kills or a destroyed piece of furniture, like for instance a key. That was nice! Because those are used to open up either houses to explore or crates that appear after clearing a part of the map you are currently on. Now, I’ve had a few instances that a key would drop on me, but got stuck between a piece of wall and I wouldn’t be able to get to it! Basically, resulting in one lost key. And if you still need to gear up to prepare for your boss battle? This would suck. As it could be that one much needed key to open for instance, an ammo crate or loot box. Though it didn’t happen frequently, thank god for that.
- Graphics: When you go into your first play session, you’ll notice that there is a sort of “film grain” on the screen. This made the look and feel of the game feel kind of off to me. So, I dived into the game’s options and found that it had VHS visuals enabled. Now, if this is a setting that you like, then this is really appreciated. If it’s not, keep in mind that you can turn this off. You just need to go to the options menu. Turning this off made the game actually much more graphically appealing. And let this be one of its strong suits as well. The effects, the environment? It really does look cosmetically appealing, even though a lot of assets are being reused a lot. I guess that was the price for it being procedurally generated and having little to no loading time.
What is Bad?
- Soundtrack: Okay, what’s the deal? I put the audio on the good section already, so why is this in the bad section as well? Well the one and only reason that this is on the bad part, is the fact that the soundtrack is limited. Every restart, depending on which level you choose, will have the same soundtrack. And don’t get me wrong, it’s catchy. But a change in tune would be appreciated.
The Walking Vegetables – 77/100
The game is actually a real fun and amazing experience to play. People judging just by looking at gameplay on the internet or its trailer. Please, look past that! Those don’t do it justice at all. Though it might hold up well in longer play sessions… So, anyone who had this one in mind to maybe purchase? You can rest assured, it’s worth giving it a try! Especially if you already played games like Enter the Gungeon. I surely am looking forward to seeing more from this developer.
