Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff
In recent years the "Sandbox Game" has become more and more popular, for those unaware a Sandbox Game is basically a game that allows you to have much more creativity within the game to complete tasks towards an end goal, as opposed to a much more linear experience that many games have.
Just Die Already is an "old people mayhem sandbox game". You start off the game in a care home for the elderly, apparently you are living in the near future where people are no longer having children, and no one is going to work as instead they are playing video games all day, so with no one paying the bills to look after the elderly, you find yourself having no choice but to escape the retirement home (or are you kicked out?) and find a way to survive on your own in a world that just wants you to die. Hence the title of the game.
You now find yourself completing various tasks as a way to get retirement tickets which in turn will allow you to have free care.
Anyway, all of that is not really of much interest, what is of interest however is the gameplay itself, if you have ever played Goat Simulator, then Just Die Already will instantly feel familiar. At first the controls are a bit iffy, but you will soon get used to them. You can run around; you can pick up items with your left or right hand, you can pretty much do what you like, however you are still an old person, and as such you will break bones & lose limbs, luckily you can respawn and carry on your journey. But the fun is sometimes trying to carry on without respawning. For example, if you lose your head, you can pick it up and attack someone with it, you may end up just a body with no arms or legs, rolling about.
The single player mode is great, but there is also a multiplayer mode, whereby you can help friends to complete challenges or just attack each other, it really is up to you.
Much like Goat Simulator, you really can interact with almost everything, and there are loads of things out there to have fun with, and get killed by, or use to kill others. There are loads of secrets to find, hidden areas and so on. For example, find some wings, glue them to your arms and then fly around! Things really do get very crazy.
I've been playing the game for a while, and some tasks are easier than others, some are simple, some are hard, and every time I have played, I have found new unexpected things to do.
The Good
A seemingly endless number of things to do, you really can find yourself "wasting" hours playing this game, without really achieving anything, but that is part of the fun.
The Bad
The graphics have their own quirky style, not really to my tastes though. And sometimes the controls feel a bit too light, like you are not completely in charge, but that is just part of the game mechanics.
Overall
If you liked goat simulator, then you will love this. If you have never played Goat Simulator, then the first 5 minutes of playing Just Die Already, you will hate, but then you will start to like it, and eventually love it.
I score this game a solid 8 out of 10.
Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff
Out now on Xbox
