Party Animals Review

ign.com:

With Party Animals, developer Recreate Games takes the goofy joy of floppy, physics-based multiplayer games like Fall Guys, Gang Beasts, and Human: Fall Flat and puts its own spin on them. Instead of falling in with the rank and file, Party Animals pushes the genre forward thanks to a thoughtful attention to detail, creative levels, and its engaging, comedic showdowns, though it does stumble over its inflexible rules and local multiplayer mishaps.

You’ll take control of an adorable, clumsy animal with a powerful right hook as you join up to seven other players in punching, dropkicking, headbutting, and flopping your way to victory in a variety of different challenges. Their wobbly animations cause a sticky, moving-through-molasses-like feel to the controls that might be a turn-off at first, but after a few rounds it clicks. Doing just about anything – including walking – has a short wind-up, but the delay eventually becomes satisfying as you watch your party animal launch itself into motion. It feels intentional, and contributes to Party Animals’ overall loose sense of combative chaos.

Attacks all have a similarly long wind-up that contributes to the ragdoll nature of your chosen combatant, but when a blow connects, it feels less like a plush pawing from a stuffed animal and more like a powerful pound from a heavyweight boxer. Time even temporarily slows down to really emphasize the impact of a particularly potent punch before your cute little guy goes flying.

With three modes, each with its own set of maps, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into here. The main one is Last Stand, which distills Party Animals to its purest, most chaotic form. Each of the nine maps feels relatively small, but they are perfectly sized to house