I had never heard of POPUCOM, and not only did its name definitely threw me for a loop, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. After completing the story mode of POPUCOM, I walked away wondering how I didn’t hear about this game sooner. It combines so many elements from other recent games and creates something here that feels both familiar, yet still fresh. GRYPHLINE might have a surprise co-op hit on their hands here.
Buddy Up in POPUCOM!
The story begins with you being teleported into the world of Pancake and meeting with Yolkie, an egg shaped robot, who informs you that you are there to save the world. Pancake is under attack by waves of creatures called Pomus, which are being summoned by a mysterious monster out in space. In order to destroy this monster, you must save enough Goodiebots so they can help you build a giant missile to blow up the mysterious monster. It is a simple but effective setup that gives just enough to the players to set them out on their adventure.
Those who played Astro Bot last year should feel right at home from here. You will use your ship to navigate a world map where you can choose which level you want to take on from those you have unlocked. As you collect more Goodiebots new levels will unlock, as well as new cosmetics which you can buy from Gambol in your home base. It is a very satisfying gameplay loop that makes you want to check every nook and cranny to make sure you aren’t missing any hidden Goodiebots or collectible stickers.
The art style and presentation of the game does a lot of work, breathing life into each level and giving them a fun and unique theme for most of them. It is a beautiful game with some great character designs and animation work.
Poppin’ Baddies, Bustin’ Moves
Where POPUCOM really shines is in its creative mixture of genres. It cleverly combines 3D platformer with Bust-A-Move style puzzle solving and a little dash of a Hazelight Studios game to create a game that wears its influences on its sleeve, but still feels new. You and your partner are head into battle with Rainbow Blasters, weapons that shoot colored blobs that are able to neutralize Pomus of the same color if you can match three or more of them together. The catch is that you only have two colors, while your partner has two unique colors of their own. This makes you have to work together to fight off certain enemies by trying to synchronize shots or strategically plan out which section of some Pomus to break first. It’s an extremely satisfying system that never wears out its welcome.
Besides your Rainbow Blaster, you will quickly find four other items that you can switch between on the fly in order to solve the many varying puzzles throughout the game. Your shield can be used to block attacks from Pomus of the same color, but can also be used as a platform to help your partner reach high places or get across sections where they can’t normally pass through. You can turn into a Metroid style morph ball to blow up breakable walls or break enemy armor. Captain Kitty allows you to pick up objects that are out of the way or rip off an enemy helmet. Finally, you get a bot that allows you to grab certain objects from far away to either pull towards you or swap places with.
Each of these items seem straightforward at first, but the game pushes you to use these items in creative ways that may not be apparent at first. POPUCOM isn’t afraid to throw some curveballs at you when it comes to its puzzles. There were more than a few times my partner, staff writer Chris Sanchez, and I would have to sit and really observe our surroundings before having that eureka moment that made everything click together. It was almost always satisfying when a solution presented itself.
Fantastic Level Design
The biggest highlight of POPUCOM is its fantastic level design. Every level has a unique gimmick that makes you think of your tools and the world around you differently. Whether it’s maneuvering a giant DDR pad with your partner or escorting a mechanical wind-up toy, you have to use all the tools at your disposal in order to reach your goal. This is especially true if you are looking to 100% the game, as there are a fair number of Goodiebots and stickers to collect that are very cleverly hidden. The level design is on par with some of the best platformers of this generation. I would happily put some of these levels right up there along the likes of Astro Bot or Super Mario Odyssey.
Where the game falters a bit is in its boss fights. I would have liked to see a bit more variety when it came to these encounters. There are a few standout bosses throughout the campaign, but a large majority of them are bosses from earlier levels with a small twist to them. When the boss fights are good, they are really good. I just wish there was more of these standout boss fights and more enemy variety in general.
Mid-way Arcade
In between levels you can spend some time in your base’s arcade. Here you can play mini-games that you unlock as you progress through the story. Most of the games aren’t that fun to play, unfortunately. One in particular pits you against your partner in a volleyball game with horrible controls and just doesn’t feel fun to play at all.
However, there is one arcade game I wholeheartedly recommend playing all the way through. The second game you unlock in the arcade is a cooperative space shooter game similar to Ikaruga. You and your partner control cat-manned space ships as you work through bullet hell type levels while breaking up Pomus until reaching a boss. You can freely switch your ship color, the same way as in the main game, and try to shoot enemies down with their matching color. This game was right up my alley and I had a blast working through each level. Despite that, I did come away pretty disappointed by the arcade.
Satisfying Cosmetics
When a cosmetic shop was first introduced into the shop, I’ll admit my cynicism started to peak through. I immediately started to think about how this game was going to start introducing microtransactions and how limited my choices would be until I started to spend money. I was pleasantly surprised to see that besides a few paid DLC cosmetic options, all of the other cosmetics were purchasable with gems collected throughout the levels or earning another type of currency through the party mode. It’s just refreshing to play a game that isn’t trying to nickel and dime you every step of the way with its cosmetics.
You start off with a limited number of cosmetic options, but as you beat levels and save Goodiebots the shops options start opening up more. I found myself getting a little excited every time I received a notification that the store had expanded. It was fun to go and check out what new fits were available and how I could change my look up for the next couple of levels. Its small, but I appreciate the work that went into the different outfit options available.
A Welcome Surprise
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with POPUCOM. I came in knowing next to nothing about it, but walked away excited about possible expansions or a sequel. Clocking in at around eleven hours of playtime, and still having a few Goodiebots and Stickers to find, it stays around just long enough and doesn’t overstay its welcome. I can fully recommend this to anyone looking for their next co-op adventure with a friend or partner.
NOTE: There is also a Party Mode included with the base game. However, you need 3-4 players in order to play it so I could not review this portion of the game. This review strictly covers the Story Mode.
Disclaimer: GRYPHLINE provided Steam keys of POPUCOM to Final Weapon for review purposes.
