Struggling [Xbox]
Developed by Chasing Rats Games, Struggling is a physics-based platformer that can be played alone or with a friend. Whichever way you play, you’ll play as Troy, a lump of flesh suspended by two floppy limbs, housing the minds of two fabled, heroic siblings called Hector and Achilles. As a solo player, you’ll control both limbs, and with a friend you’ll take on one side each, which ramps up the challenge quite considerably, especially if you don’t communicate well with each other.
As you progress through the game you’ll gain extra abilities, such as detaching limbs to squeeze into tight spaces and attaching your limbs to creepy little mouth holes popping out of the fleshy environment, enabling you to complete various tasks. There are visual differences across environments, with the lab having some very typical lab looking areas combined with plenty of meatiness, as well as the caves and the canyon for you to explore.
The world has a very grim and grotesque, yet cartoony appearance, with lots of fleshy lumps and pools of radioactive waste. You’ll witness scientists at various sections, both in the background discussing their experiments, and trapped in some precarious spots - ready for you to give them a lil’ nudge to their demise. The soundtrack, composed by Léandre Monette, is well varied, and works perfectly to create atmosphere, whether comedic and lighthearted, or to emphasise your panic - particularly during tense moments such as when the rats start to swarm, and the creepy little voices whispering ‘secret’ whenever a collectible is near helps to keep you wary enough for any areas to explore. There are also tracks that give off hectic country vibes and playful circus tunes, all of which were really enjoyable to listen to.
Within the options, you can adjust the volume of the usual audio components, as well as the Screams that you’ll hear from Troy as he flails around and yells himself into oblivion if you need to respawn. You can also choose to have contrasting arms, to make it a little simpler to differentiate between them, as it can be easy to get confused and let go of the wrong one if you’re controlling both! There’s plenty of humour in Struggling, which helps to keep you from feeling quite as frustrated due to how difficult it is at times. There’s also a lot of stuff that will take you by surprise, such as various scenes you’ll witness, potential love interests to woo and pinball-styled ‘chemotherapy’.
There are secret hats for you to find and collect, with these being able to be viewed from within Troy’s little hideout. When you come across these, you’ll have to contort yourself to plop the hat onto (one of) your heads in order for it to register as collected - a task that is sometimes more challenging that you’d think!
Overall, Struggling is a fun, yet stressful game that really has you focus on your coordination, whether you’re in total control or splitting with a friend. Trying to work your way through tight spaces or racing away from an impending threat can easily throw you off balance, leading to a lot of shouting at the TV - but managing to get away right in the nick of time, or pulling off successful swings to reach secrets and other areas feels all the more rewarding once you get over the sweaty palms! Priced at £11.99 on the Xbox Store, Struggling is a game best suited for those looking for a challenge, particularly if you’ve enjoyed other physics based titles in the past.
In the end, we decided to give Struggling the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.
Are you interested in Struggling? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Frontier for the Struggling Xbox review code!
