Octodad: The Dadliest Catch: PS4 Review

Octodad: The Dadliest Catch: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4

Have you ever wanted to play a computer game where it appears you control a character that's like a jelly that's not quite set yet?

Because that's how I felt playing Octodad: the Dadliest Catch, a slightly bizarre and at times, utterly fruit loop game that revels in its nuttiness.

You play the Octodad of the title, in this squid out of water game, which sees you trying to master the controls as the tentacles flail everywhere. The game starts with you trying to negotiate your own wedding, as Octodad has to get down the aisle.

Using the L2 and R2 buttons of the DualShock pad and how much strength you press down on them, defines how far the tentacles go. It's a clever touch as essentially you are using these buttons as left and right legs, but it doesn't half take a while to master, leaving you crashing in to all and sundry around you as you try to act normally.

You can pick things up by moving a tentacle around and using the X button to grab it as it's highlighted. But that also becomes a little difficult as you try to make your way around the world within - using that skill to master opening locks can be tricky to say the very least.

Essentially, the catch is that you're trying to fit in and convince others that you're a human - which is more than a task in itself. So, I have to admit that I just gave up at this early point in the game and began to flounder around as much as I could - crashing into parts of the aisle as I walked down it despite being told not to do so as I'd stand out.

The vagueness of the controls makes this game fun, but it also makes the tasks that require precision ticking time bombs. After you've waved your tentacles around trying to grasp something and all your doing is failing, it's fair to say a degree of frustration threatens to boil your squid ink over.  Coupled with the fact the camera angles don't assist you with Octodad fading out as you try and negotiate your way around, there's a chance that extreme irritation can set in if you're not careful.

Thankfully though, Octodad: The Dadliest Catch has a quirky humour which propels it through its various mini games and a cartoony feel which gets on your right side. It's not the easiest of games to play, but it's to be applauded for the fact that it tries something different and makes the most of the technology with an innovative way of making the character walk.

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