A giant ball of tar invades from the trenches of outer space and to defeat it, we’ve got to put together a rocket to blow it to smithereens. Unfortunately, we need workers to put this thing together and they’re lost across a variety of levels where quick thinking and a second player are mandatory to progress. Welcome to ‘POPUCOM’, developer Hypergryph and publisher Gryph Frontier’s newest 3D cooperative puzzle platformer where two players get together to brave the artics and hot summer weather to save their homeland from the “Popu”.
At first glance, I thought it hard not to compare POPUCOM to a certain other paint-splashing third-person shooter. And it’s hard not to say that this game wears Splatoon’s distinct style as a bit of an inspiration to its music, animations, and visual style—but they’re nowhere close gameplay wise. POPUCOM has us use colour-based pellets to create rows of three of the same colour to defeat enemies along with an assortment of tools to cross chasms, jump between thin walls, block oncoming lasers of instadeath, so on and so forth. And you’re not just doing this alone—no no, you’re at the mercy of your friend (and yourself).
Working together is a requirement for POPUCOM as there is no singleplayer option. No friend, no play—and all the puzzles have strict requirements that keep both of you together at all times during the story mode option. But not to fret because the game does have online and local splitscreen support, and the latter is what I used. Performance was not a problem across both my main desktop PC and the ROG Ally (which was our go-to device for my little brother and I during the course of this game). What was an issue was getting both of us on the same page because a lot of deaths could have been avoided had we held the right trigger down just a bit longer. Or, you know, moved out of the way of the instadeath lasers.
Now obviously that wasn’t our only experience (or I wouldn’t have been able to beat the game!). I think one of the best feelings that POPUCOM brought about was just how satisfying it was to work together. The puzzles themselves aren’t difficult, but they do require fast movement as falling behind even just a second will likely catapult a player into the ether. As you grow your arsenal of tools left behind by the Doctor before he became bird food, your challenges increase in scale as do the enemies and bosses you need to fight. The best part of this game is just how none of its mechanics overextend their stay—every level brings something new to the table or reuses a mechanic in a completely different way, such as colour-operated platforms, shuriken that can be swapped from and thrown, ball-in-a-maze levels, and more.
So, both players have a specific element of two colours when they load into a stage. And as you can surmise, players will need to flip flop between colours to match enemies and their attacks along with platforms and other hazards that could take away a heart or send them ragdolling. This also applies to the Wall Shield tool, which can be used to block oncoming attacks and hoist your partner up to high places. The Bomb tool gets you a higher boost in certain circumstances and can break rock-enforced baddies, while the Drone tool can be used to pick up certain objects in the environment to reposition and yoink off enemy helmets.
With all these at hand, stages can become a frantic fight for your life—especially against bosses, who will freely spam rows and rows of pellets and ground pounds. Again, teamwork is key as sometimes the only way you’ll be able to avoid damage is through your mate’s quick thinking. All this comes together into a package that is really fun thanks to excellent controls, a right balance of difficulty, and a quick way to get back into the action even if both parties get sent flying off the stage. There is no life system to worry about and so long as you explore the stages for collectibles and missing worker repair bots, you’ll both progress through the game swimmingly. But you’ll also need to show some patience as shooting baddies wantonly will refill their life bars. Aiming at the right colour is key.
All though a complaint I have is that occasionally, the game will use colour to signify that the player can interact with this system—but one of those colours happens to be another player’s usable colour. You might assume that this facility can only be operated by said player when that’s not the case. Considering all the colours the developers could have chosen to indicate usability (in a game where you live or ragdoll by mismatched swatches) I found it a bit odd that they’d use yellow to indicate universal interactables. Not the end of the world but knowing this will save you a few minutes of confusion.
POPUCOM blew my expectations away somewhat and most particularly that of my League of Legends-ridden little brother, who finds gameplay that doesn’t revolve around smashing Q & E while screaming about their teammates to be a chore. Between putting not just our brains together but also getting us to time up our actions right, we had a blast smashing through the game’s many stages. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in a cooperative-focused game in quite a while. Though I do with it was easier to reconnect controllers as any gaffes forced us to restart the game to progress. Thankfully, checkpoints are frequent!
Now when you’re not saving the world, you’re back at the “Pancake”. Your hub world for buying new threads for your character, playing a few minigame rounds in the arcade, and enjoying the outdoor view. POPUCOM has players make their toon the first time they load up the game and while the customisation options are varied in options, the actual available choices are somewhat limited like hairs, voice options, and clothing. While more options open up as you progress through the game, there’s an overall lack of variety and some options can only be unlocked by playing the Party Mode (three player minimum). And to annoy me, carrot on a stick, the DLC clothing options are also available from this menu whether you’ve bought any or not. My least favourite kind of tease as it’s not like I’m allowed to buy the DLCs during the review periods anyway.
The minigames are fun! Truthfully my little brother and I sat around at most for the actual Match 3 game, but you unlock more options as you progress. And then there’s the hub itself, where you can waddle about and watch as the missile is being built and look out below through the tower’s grand window. POPUCOM has a lovely presentation, using bright colours that contrast against lighting and materials that are “dull” and perhaps even somewhat realistic. It looks great (and the developer is using a similar technique in another game of theirs in development) and the music is rocking, a combination of cartoon-ish future funk rolled up into a soft techno trance.
It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun in a cooperative focused title and I think POPUCOM has found a great balance between difficulty and player choice without sticking around for more than it has to. Throw in a lovely presentation and you’ve got a fantastic cooperative puzzle-platformer that can be enjoyed by all. ∎
POPUCOM
Played on
Windows 11 PC
PROS
- Great visual presentation, music, and aesthetics.
- Solid character controller and a good selection of tools in your arsenal.
- Puzzles are fun and not too challenging, mechanics are frequently changed up.
- Fights against enemies are frantic as they are fun.
CONS
- Colour marking isn't always clear.
- Limited customisation choices.
- If controllers disconnect, you'll need to restart from the main menu.
