Putty Squad
Common Sense says
- PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
- $29.99
- 2014
Parents say
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know Putty Squad is a platformer for PlayStation consoles with a cartoon aesthetic and a surprising amount of weapon-based violence. Enemies wield guns, shoot rockets, throw grenades, and try to electrocute the game's putty ball protagonist in an effort to keep him from accomplishing his primary objective of absorbing other putty balls. There's no deeper meaning to the action; the game is simply a test of reflexes without agenda, hidden or overt. Parents should be aware, though, that this game's unintuitive controls and poor design are bound to result in some frustration, especially among younger players.
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What's it about?
PUTTY SQUAD for PlayStation systems is a remake of a 20-year-old side-scrolling platformer originally designed for the Amiga 1200. It stars Putty, a curious blue blob that has the ability to stretch itself to reach distant platforms and inflate into a balloon and float to higher ground. The primary "Marathon" mode is made up of dozens of quick levels the primary objective of which is to avoid a variety of weapon-wielding enemies and traps en route to finding and absorbing a handful of Putty's red globular pals. Bonus goals include tracking down floating stars and finding hidden areas. Once a level is completed kids can try it again in "Challenge" mode, which tasks players to meet specific criteria such as completing the level in a set amount of time, defeating all enemies of a certain type, or not consuming health items.
Is it any good?
Putty Squad's bland and derivative presentation combines with frustratingly clunky mechanics to make it a difficult game to enjoy. Crammed with characters bereft of personality and generic audio effects that would have seemed passé even two decades ago, its nonsensical mash-up of googly-eyed putty balls, military hardware, and environments inspired by cultural clichés is difficult to endure. Worse, though, is navigating it all. Awkward and unintuitive inputs leave players fighting with their controllers as they attempt to perform the simplest of actions, including Putty's stretch moves and even his jumps. The controls get a bit more bearable with practice, but the hour or two it takes for them to become tolerable is something near torture.
Putty Squad is a window that provides a view to the medium of games as it existed nearly two decades ago, but instead of instilling any sense of nostalgic longing it simply makes the player appreciate how far interactive entertainment has come. Kids and their parents will quit the game keen to jump back to more modern fare.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about how games have evolved over the years. Have you played any older games, like the original Super Mario Bros.? What did you think of it? Do you think games from 20 or 30 years ago are as much fun as games made today?
Game details
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
- Price: $29.99
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online? Available online
- Developer: Ocean Software
- Release date: April 22, 2014
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy
- ESRB rating: E10+ for Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Last updated: August 25, 2016
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