STUFFED Review by IM DAVE ANGEL

At completexbox we are very much community driven, and welcome guest articles, opinion pieces and reviews. This Review is written by the very talented IM Dave Angel

“Can’t sleep, the Gnomes will eat me.”

Sometimes, for a game to stand out in the current market, you either need a mature, bombastic spectacle or a standard game with a unique twist.

“So, what’s STUFFED like in a nutshell?”

STUFFED is a procedurally generated first-person shooter available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. When we were children, we used to dream of fantastical landscapes, full of secrets to find and enemies to fight. Well, we get to step into the form of the teddy bear of a young girl called Ellie. You are charged with defending her from waves of spooky nightmares, which contain such horrors as gnomes (cannon fodder), quacking ducks, toy robots, sock monsters and worst of the lot, shadows!  All these attack you and the door, with the aim to break down the door to torment little Ellie. Every game is different from the next which gives the game replayability.

“The Shadows are big and scary, huh…”

The shadow is the size of an average human (which from your standpoint makes them enormous) and your job is to stop all these attackers from breaking down Ellie’s bedroom door.  If you should fail, you are treated to a sequence showing one of these shadows kicking the door down and Ellie waking to the noise, plus the insinuation that more nightmares are coming from the hallway.  This is disturbing and sets your resolve to go back and stop them before it’s too late.  Each night is broken down into waves, which gradually grow to include higher numbers of enemies, in varying difficulty.

“So, would you say this is a family title?”

It’s aimed at that demographic, but the game is a real challenge. I am lucky to make it past wave 7 on the first day and end up with hand cramps.  Also, the gnomes and ducks are really sinister, so could lead to some little one having nightmares (and we don’t want that).

It’s a cute yet spooky adventure that combines action, adventure, and family-friendly gameplay. However, the game lacks any multiplayer AT ALL.  Not having any online component is a HUGE missing part of this adventure as you would be able to share the burden with other players and talk about strategy. But sadly, the only version to support co-op is the Steam (PC) version.

“So how do you upgrade?”

You earn coins for every shot that is on target (plus a little for killing the target), which means you are able to purchase ammo for your guns or open other doors in the house, which lead to new rooms. These usually containing power ups as well as kits for repairing Ellie’s door, restoring your health and more importantly new weapons, but also gives enemies another portal to attack through.

All armament food groups are well represented (single shot pistol, SMG, AR, RPG, Boom corn grenades etc). Waving Bear Studios need a pat on the back for their weapon and sound design, combining the everyday objects in a family house with imagination to give you weapons which deserve to be better presented to the player (an armoury display on the main menu would suffice imho).

Killed enemies randomly drop pickups, which vary from max ammo for all weapons to becoming an actual bear to despatch your enemies!  This in particular is incredibly good fun, as you tower over the attacking horde, swiping them with such ease left or right.

As well as gaining coins, you also gain XP for your kills, which allow you get upgrades to either yourself, the door or your weapons.

“How does it feel to play?”

Control is precise but would benefit from separate sliders for aiming and movement.  If you turn the sensitivity down as I did, it can make spinning to face an enemy behind you a painful (and often fatal) proposition.

The major problem for me is the imagination and the game loop could get quite old quite quickly, so you might end up archiving it off to an external drive, to be moved back and played every now and again, either on your own or with friends online (when it is present)

“Ok, sum it all up for me.”

What the game brings to the table in a nutshell –

Great little shooter for short bursts.  Great enemy, environment and weapon design make this game really fun.

A serious challenge for any shooter fan but be aware the dark and ominous nature might disturb some children.

In the current game market, its cheap and fun entertainment.

Does exactly what it says on the tin, with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.

How the game could be improved

No Multiplayer is a HUGE turnoff in these days of instant multiplayer gaming.  Even other games that are similarly cute have matchmaking and this is something that Waving Bear will hopefully correct at some point in the future before the game is forgotten.

Verdict – Final words

Ultimately, STUFFED is a fun little shooter that needs some of your time.  If they implement the multiplayer facet of this on Xbox, I would like to revisit this score.