If you have played more than 3 games odds are you have encountered a bug or a glitch. Something small like a spelling mistake or an item that doesn’t appear where it should or even the whole game crashing whenever you run and jump at the same time. Most developers do everything to either make sure they don’t happen or hide them, while a few flaunt their fragmented flag proudly. Stately Snail recently released a game that celebrates game flaws and the absurdity of loot boxes. Shadow of Loot Box is a tongue in cheek love letter to all the games out there.
The game consists of about 16 different levels to play through. The main enemy you will face throughout your journey is the evil loot boxes. They take on different forms, but you can easily identify them. Even though the game is technically a 1st person shooter, the levels encompass many genres. Besides 1st person shooter you will have levels that focus on fetch quests, dungeon crawling, survival, crafting and more.
One thing this title does well is not take itself too seriously. This is done by intentionally adding in bugs and glitches but informing the player that they are there. Poor graphics, bad connections, out of whack hit boxes and more are common. You are also forced to buy all of your abilities, even the most basic. Want to jump? That will cost you a skill point. Have to interact with an object? Another skill point.
Graphics in the game remind me a lot of an updated version of the original versions of Doom and Wolfenstein. The intentional incorporation of visual glitches makes the game beautifully broken. Where in other games if an item clips into a wall you might think it is a bug, but here it is part of the design. The soundtrack is good, even if it is not the most memorable.
Shadow of Loot Box is out now and can be part of your collection for $7.99. A full run through will take you just over an hour, but it will be an hour well spent. Even if you only pay once you will be laughing most of the time at the in-game jokes poking fun at other games, as well as itself.
