We all know that the environment is at a turning point. We are teetering on a precipice, and if we as a species do not begin to make significant changes in the way we impact the environment, we will soon cause irreversible damage. Some video games have taken advantage of current environmental conditions and built entire stories out of them, and that’s exactly what Demagog Studio has done with its latest effort, The Cub.
It’s a game that explores a post-apocalyptic Earth, a world where wealthy people travel to Mars to escape a catastrophic environmental disaster, then return years later to conduct tests and experiments to determine if the planet will ever survive again Become hospitable. oh. . . Also play golf. The story itself revolves around a young boy who is raised by a wolf mother, survives a catastrophe, and then hides and evades the Martian humans who only want to capture him alive. Essentially, think of Planet of Lana, except instead of an army of escaping robots, humans are your worst enemies.
The core narrative of The Cub is an engaging and very straightforward one. It blames the rich and how they treat and influence the rest of civilization and the planet, while showing the beauty of our world and how nature takes it back from the ever-expanding human species. It’s not a complex story at all, it just explores the basic elements of the overall argument while weaving in emotional aspects such as other characters like the human pilot who unknowingly left while piloting one of the first rockets to evacuate Earth His wife died on earth. It also effortlessly identifies the true enemy of our planet, which in this story is humans, as even the most dangerous wildlife are merely basic environmental hazards rather than primary antagonists.
The level design is also a highlight. The game’s art style and the way it’s built work well together, and it’s really reminiscent of what Planet of Lana was trying to achieve. There are a variety of biomes to traverse, each with their own themes, dangers, and mechanics, and likewise, the gameplay is simple and straightforward, requiring only a few mechanics to master at the best of times. But this simplicity can be a bit of a double-edged sword.
The Cub’s extra activities and missions are woefully uninspired. The idea with this game is to follow the main story and there’s really no room to stray off the beaten path. Still, Demagog decided to include a ton of collectibles to find, but since these collectibles are typically presented and placed in the player’s path, there’s no thrill or reason to find them. Additionally, these collectibles are really the only way to expand what The Cub has to offer, only adding a bit of depth to the world building and making it difficult to keep picking them up as you continue your journey.
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When you pair this with the fact that The Cub seems to demand perfection from its platformers, you get a game that can actually be a bit conflicting to play. I mean, a lot of the platforming elements leave little room for error. While the list of mechanics is pretty basic and the platforming itself is simple, if you don’t jump perfectly or miss a jump by a millisecond, you’ll die. For a game that’s so simple in almost every way, it’s baffling that it requires near-perfection and precision to complete its platforming portions.
With a short duration of only a few hours and very limited replayability, The Cub is an ideal game that can be completed in a night or two, for that matter, given the interesting storyline and nice graphics. This was a nice performance from Demagog. It’s a shame that the game is held back by overly frustrating platforming and uninspired collectibles, because there’s brilliance and huge potential here. Still, for what it’s worth, The Cub will undoubtedly be one of the top indie games of January 2024.
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