Cyber Chicken (PC) Review

By Gabriel Jones 02.01.2017

Review for Cyber Chicken on PC

As is typical of a dystopian future, the world is ruled by corporations. The most prominent of them is Big Bucks, known throughout Neo York City for its premium coffee. One fan of this overpriced jolt of caffeine is the Cyber Chicken. This cybernetic mountain of poultry has been tasked by Intergalactic Leader GW and the enigmatic Hand to put a stop to the evils plaguing the world. There are also rumours of a conspiracy involving Big Bucks and the social media conglomerate Fakebook. Could Big Bucks' best customer become their worst enemy?

Cyber Chicken has a solid concept. It combines twin-stick shooting with Metroidvania-styled exploration and upgrades. The hero guns down fowl adversaries, and uses the monetary rewards to purchase weapons or new powers. There's always an incentive to explore each area, as many of them hold secret shops, which offer tools that can't be found anywhere else. There's also a combo system, which awards bonus cash to cyborgs that avoid taking damage, while destroying numerous enemies in a short period of time. There are also a few perks to drinking coffee regularly, like enhanced damage.

Of course, a good concept doesn't mean much when the execution is just plain awful. The basics of platforming and shooting are competently handled, but there's not much in the way of polish. For example, it's hard to reload, when seemingly every action cancels out the attempt. Oft-times, walls will appear to block the player's progress, until they destroy all of the bad guys. These claustrophobic battles make certain weapons (like the howitzer) nearly impossible to use, since they can damage both the enemy and the player-character. In some cases, it's better just to stick to melee attacks and the dash. Focusing on crowd control is always an effective strategy to fall back on.

There are also bosses to contend with. They can be extremely frustrating, because the player won't know exactly when they'll stumble into a fight. It's not uncommon to wander into a boss arena, and then realize the hero has no ammo and only enough health to survive a few hits. If they can't overcome this frustrating scenario, then they might just have to give up and start over from the beginning. All that happens when they die is that they restart the fight, with the same amount of health as when they began.

Screenshot for Cyber Chicken on PC

It's also possible to trigger bugs that halt any attempts at progressing through the game. After acquiring the dash ability, the player might recall a location very early on in where it could be used. When they head back to that point, they'll discover an alternate route that holds a handy triple jump upgrade. Unfortunately, after reaching another area and seemingly arriving at the necessary route to continue the story, progress is halted in the most bizarre fashion. Every time the protagonist enters a particular area, they'll immediately walk backwards until they leave. While the person holding the controller will mash buttons and move the stick every which way, there's nothing they can do to prevent this forced retreat. It's absolutely bewildering.

Another frustrating aspect is that the map never seems to work when it's needed. This game is non-linear, with many large areas that are similar to one another. Having a method for one to get their bearings is essential. Unfortunately, the map button doesn't do anything. The player will be forced to rely on their memory, but even that's a tall order, considering that most of Neo York City is composed of rain-filled streets and warehouses.

Although this can be filed under nit-picking, it deserves a mention all the same. The humour in this game is stunningly bad. Apparently, the main character was originally conceived in 1995. That would certainly explain its corny Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired voice. The Intergalactic Leader GW is basically George W. Bush. Most of the other jokes have aged like milk. They couldn't draw a laugh if they had a pen and a piece of paper.

Screenshot for Cyber Chicken on PC

Cubed3 Rating

1/10
Rated 1 out of 10

Awful

Cyber Chicken could eventually become a decent shooter, but it needs a lot of work. Badly-tuned boss fights, poor mechanics, and massive game-halting bugs completely obliterate any possibility of deriving enjoyment from this game. The dated jokes are more likely to cause stomach cramps than laughter. Gamers looking for a Metroidvania fix will find nothing but misery here.

Developer

WHOA!

Publisher

Groupees

Genre

2D Platformer

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  1/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

Comments

Comments are currently disabled

Subscribe to this topic Subscribe to this topic

If you are a registered member and logged in, you can also subscribe to topics by email.
Sign up today for blogs, games collections, reader reviews and much more
Site Feed
Who's Online?
RudyC3

There are 1 members online at the moment.