Biped [Xbox]
NExT Studios’ Biped has you take control of a pair of little bipedal robots named Aku and Sila (if playing co-op), or just one that will alternate between levels. Your mission is to reactivate all of the beacons on the planet, that were suddenly taken offline during the introductory cutscene. Taking control of your character is done via moving the left and right sticks, controlling each leg independently. Being able to control a character’s limbs seperately always seems like it will be easier than it is. Take Octodad, or Manuel Samuel for instance. Heck, even take games such as I Am Bread (that don’t really have limbs as such, but the idea is there). It is so difficult to control multiple points of contact - hand/foot coordination just goes completely out of the window and you end up just tossing your character around.
Following this manual control premise, I was thankful that Biped only has you control two limbs: your legs. You’ll still run into some coordination issues at times, but with only your legs to worry about - and the ability to skate over smooth surfaces by holding both thumb sticks in the direction you want to travel - it’s much less of a headache than some other games. There are different levels for you to complete in both Solo and Co-Op, so if you’re looking to activate all the beacons, you’ll need to get someone to tag along at least for a bit.
Visually, right from the opening cinematic you’ll notice a very Pixar feel to the game (WALL-E in particular, of course). The world of Biped is simply designed, with everything on raised platforms, that often require puzzle solving to advance through. There’s step based puzzles, where you need to step on pressure pads in the correct order, rolling platforms that you’ll need to walk very carefully across, using your weight to roll them when required, and balloons and bounce pads to move to higher areas. Levels are varied, ranging from woodland levels to icy levels, and tasks within change too, including some woodcutting tasks that were super fun and changed things up a bit, and the final level’s rafts which are controlled by your walking motion that felt really fulfilling.
The soundtrack of Biped is very jolly, and often adds further to the very Pixar-esque vibe. Each of the Bipeds (both your own, and others you come across during the story) interact with little robotic beeps and grunts. Bumping into surfaces will get a little boop, and you can hear the effort as they try to pull carrots and cactuses out of the ground. Playing co-op, you’ll find yourself frequently bumping into each other, or full-on knocking each other out with your flailing legs. The levels themselves are similar between Solo and Co-Op, with the same level names, but challenges within change things up. After completing each of these levels, you’ll unlock Pro A and B options as an additional challenge if you’re up to the task.
Being able to play solo or with a friend is great, and adds a real layer of communication to the process. Even in single player mode, you’ll come across areas where co-op is required, and an NPC robot will fill in the gap for you, but these will frequently feel a little more difficult than they should due to the slow reaction times of the NPCs, but it definitely adds a little hilarity for a bit (until it happens too many times). The controls are really fun, and travelling around the world using grind rails and balloons for travel, as well as skating around on smooth surfaces, all just feels so satisfying. Sometimes you will come up against a particularly difficult area, but thankfully after a few too many fails, a prompt will pop up on screen to give you a hint as to how to pass - which is great to avoid you just giving up entirely.
There’s a store for you to purchase cosmetic items for your little robots, using the coins gained throughout the levels. There’s different hats to choose from, including a chicken hat, a top hat and more. Each level has its own completion stats, shown at the end of the level. These are for collecting all of the stars in the level, doing it within a certain number of deaths, and completing it within an allocated time (that often requires you to just run straight through, ignoring any and all collectibles). Priced at £12.49 on the Xbox Store, it’s a great price for what’s included, and kept us entertained for a good while - and whilst the difficulty can sometimes take you by surprise, it’s still a suitable game for kids too (particularly if playing with an adult).
In the end, we decided to give Biped the Collecting Asylum rating of 9/10.
Have you played Biped yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comment below!
- V x
Thank you to NExT Studios for the Biped Xbox review code!
