We all love it when developers try something new and innovative when it comes down to their game designs. A nice example of this is Spore! We had never seen a game where you start of in the microcosm of what is the bacteria-filled ocean, all the way up until you are a spacefaring civilization. Boy, I loved that game… And we’ve seen games bomb, for trying to be innovative. The best example that comes to my recollection is No Man’s Sky, though that is turning around now that countless of content updates and patches have been released. And so we now finally arrive at We Were Here. The developer of this game clearly wanted to create a new sort of Co-op experience with this one. But will it succeed? Or will it simply, crash and burn? Let’s find out in our review of We Were Here!
What do you do? You play as one of 2 characters. The librarian or the Explorer. As the Librarian, you are meant to guide the players through his adventure in the maze. As the Explorer, it is your job to accurately describe your surroundings to the Librarian so he can identify what you need to do.
- Fun experience: I have got to say, the game in itself? Is an amazing experience! The puzzles are witty and crafty, the sherlock holms inside of you will surely be working overtime as to getting these puzzles solved for your partner to execute them. Though most of this stems from your co-op player, the overall experience is there for you to enjoy! And depending on how good you are at putting 2 and 2 together? You’ll blaze through the game and actually be sad that it’s over.
- Innovative way: Now, how you communicate is actually very innovative. When you start the game up, you’ll be dropped in a closed-off room. After a bit of searching, you’ll find the Walkie Talkie laying there for you to grab. It’s through this that you’re going to have to communicate with your partner. As far as my knowledge goes, this is the first game I’ve played that actually works like this. Because, as anyone who has ever toyed around with these kinds of things? Know that it’s a one-way communication at a time. So truly nice out of the box thinking… If it worked… More on this later!
- Short, shorter shortest: As stated above? You’ll blaze through the game. But it’s more like a short sprint. The game lasts, on your first playthrough? 45 minutes, at the pace, that I and my partner were going through it. Our 2nd playthrough lasted around 15 minutes. That’s 1 hour ‘s worth of content… 1! Hour! And while it’s an actually AMAZING experience? That just doesn’t cut it! Why was this cut so short? And sure there’s already a sequel in the works, We were here – too? But come on… Give that as a content patch instead of an entirely separate game!
- Visual glitches: While most of the game goes smoothly, you’ll run in a few visual glitches. There were times that I just kind of clipped through walls and saw right through the map. It’s not everywhere that this happens though, making it more obvious that it’s a visual issue!
- Walkie Never Talkies: As it is currently, the game’s major focal point, the walkie talkies? Are broken AF. You can talk all you want, your partner won’t hear you, nor will you hear your partner. In my opinion, this is one of the sloppiest design issues I’ve seen in a long time! Though a patch will solve this eventually, it still stands that at this moment the game is broken. You can work around it by opening a party chat and then just fiddle around it until the game glitches and stops spamming you with pop-ups that you’re in a party chat. This is because the game forces you to use the in-game Walkie Talkie … But if those don’t work? Then it’s either just uninstalling the game again, or work around the game ‘s fundamental building block… Test your stuff out guys! Jeez!
CONCLUSION
Score: 50%
While the “We Were Here” experience is in itself an amazing game and truly fun to play if you’ve got a good Co-op partner? As to which I have got to thank Armango for struggling through the game together with me! It still doesn’t fully make up for the game shipping broken towards us console users. It seems that the PC version doesn’t have this issue. If it wasn’t for it being broken? I’d actually give it a much higher score but sadly, I wouldn’t be an honest reviewer if I gave it a higher score while it is in such a poor state. If you really want to try it out? Wait for a few patches and keep checking their Reddit.
Developer: Total Mayhem Games Publisher: Total Mayhem Games
Played on: Xbox One X Also available on: PC
Alexis spent 45 minutes as a librarian!
Achievement difficulty for 1000 Gamerscore: 1 and a half hours
Perfect for: An absolute MUST for Co-op players… When they fix the game.
Xbox Game Store link: Click here