RATSHAKER REVIEW ON XBOX
RatShaker, is a first person horror mystery experience that involves a rat!.
The premise is you take on the role of a man who has a rat in his hand and a mystery to solve.
The game boasts mature themes, 2 different endings, and to watch a RAT react, squeak, and maybe even shout as you shake it into oblivion.
Accessibility
With regards to accessibility, there is no options available beside very basic tweaks. There is even no subtitle options or controller mapping, but there is a shake sensitivity option. So should you have hearing, motor or visual issues, this may not be the game for you.
Gameplay
Once in awhile you get to review a game that is unlike no other. To explain what this game is about would spoil it completely, so im a little bemused how I’m going to do this without spoiling it for you. But let’s try shall we....
The game abruptly starts with you watching an ad about RatShaker and then appearing in a cornfield. Her you are then explained the basics of….Rat Shaking. Hold RT and you can shake the Rat as your Rat Shaker bar fills up. After a couple of goes you progress onto Strangling the rat…no pun intended. This reduces your Rat Shaker bar, and starts to cause the rat to go blue as you squeeze the air out of him. Be aware, you go to far and kill him…you also die. As with each attempt, you start to see buildings in the back ground appear, and once done the talking Rat announces that you are to make your way inside the house should you wise to understand what’s going on.
It Is then here you can make your way to the main house or the barn beside it. My recommendation is do the barn first, as a little surprise is waiting for you there. To get inside or use anything, you will need to squeeze the life out of the Rat, and then shake him again to refill the meter.
Once inside the house you will go through a series of rooms that within that hold puzzles and interactive objects. Its pretty linear but crazily fun with you, and your accomplice going deeper and deeper towards the truth. Soon things take a much darker turn and through-out it all you are given hints of what your life was like previously.
The actual mechanics of shaking the rat are top notch alongside squeezing the hell out of it. The journey through the story, whilst short was imaginative and enjoyable to the very end, which left me trying to understand what I had experienced.
Graphics
Visually the game blends art styles with a low resolution feel with its chunky sprites, combined with a hazy pixelated filter. This is then complemented with a sharp comic looking rat that sways with authenticity when walking.
The idea is to get you to focus on what’s in front of you with the environment taking second place. This creates an unease when the environment switches from house orientated visuals to a much more darker experience.
Lighting is also well done in this game, ensuring that there is enough ambience to understand where you are going, but willing to switch this off when required to ensure the darkness envelopes you when it wants to change the tone.
Speaking of tone, as mentioned the game often switches from normal, to dark to humorous all in the space of a few minutes and the visuals strike a good balance in helping that transition. This is all intended to tell the story which at the end may leave you with more questions than answers.
Overall framerate and stability was good, but I did see some tearing and pop-ins. This ironically helped the feel of the games retro aesthetics so its hard to know if this was a choice by the developer.
Sound
When it comes to music in this game, this is where the developers have really hit the nail on the head. It blends quietness with deep drum echo effects to keep your nerves on edge similar to that of Silent Hill.
Then there is voice work here in the form of the talking Rat, who’s voice actor is as smooth any news anchor in their delivery and style. Insults and jokes combined with horrendous screams, are a joy to behold as you make your way through this unique game. Your be smiling and then jumping out of your skin in the next moment, with this excellent delivery.
My recommendation here would be a good quality soundbar to really enjoy the rats insults to you as you experience this new form of terror.
Verdict
This leads me onto the rating of the game:-
Now I rate games in order of, avoid, on sale, great purchase and must own. My rating for RatShaker is a ‘’Must Own’’.
This deeply disturbing, horror with humour game blends all that is disturbing with quirks of pure laughter. Combine this with a short run time, and a super low price, you can’t really not go wrong in trying it.
The game is currently priced on Xbox at £2.89 or approx. $4 and depending on skill and patience would give you about 30mins for your first run, with subsequent run being about 20 to get the alternative ending. There is paid dlc in terms of skins and new voice work for the rat should you to experience it differently.
This is a unique game, an artistic game that sets out to challenge you and keep you thinking long after you stopped playing. For the price that’s on offer though this should be a game that all purchase even if its to experience ‘’shaking your rat’’