You’ll have a barrel load of fun playing with Willy.
BY nelmano
review - ps4
Welcome, welcome, one and all. The circus is in town but be weary for this is no ordinary circus. It’s a darker, more sinister circus for those of you with a more sadistic nature. At this circus you won’t see any conjoined twins or snake boys and there’s not a bearded lady in sight. Instead its star attraction, the top billing, the one brought to you for your amusement and entertainment, is Willy the farmhand and antihero of Self Made Miracle’s debut title – Penarium.
Penarium is a frantic single-screen 2D arena platformer. It is said that there was a time when people would line up to challenge the Penarium deathtrap circus to seek eternal glory, as only the strongest, dashing and most athletic would make it out alive. Nowadays, to keep the sadistic crowd entertained, the circus has resorted to kidnapping whomever they come across on their travels to recruit/acquire new challengers/victims. That’s where Willy comes in. Plucked from his farm, Willy must take on the Penarium by collecting barrels and avoiding various deathtraps if he is to have any hope of escaping the circus. There are thirteen deathtraps to avoid and these range from death by killer bees and bone crunching spikes to catching a rocket straight in the face. Even a mistimed jump from platform to platform will send Willy plummeting to his death.
Penarium has three game modes – Arcade, Campaign and Multiplayer. In Campaign Mode you are given 30 challenges to complete; these are set in three arenas and as you progress you are told more of Willy’s story as well as the Director telling you about the people who have perished before you. The challenges themselves vary – one minute you may be collecting barrels and the next you’re staying in the spotlight or pressing buttons in sequence in a ‘Simon Says’ type challenge. All of these challenges increase in difficulty as you progress through them. Arcade Mode is where I spent most of my time. Here you have an endless amount of barrels to collect and deathtraps to avoid. For every five barrels you collect the deathtraps change. It’s a very fast paced and unpredictable way of playing that doesn’t give you much time to think, but my god is it addictive! As well as this you can collect coins which can be spent in the shop to unlock various power-ups. It’s all about the highscore in this mode which also has online leaderboards so you can see how you rate against your friends and the rest of the world. Finally there’s local two player couch Multiplayer Mode which offers versus and co-operative options. In both options you play “Push the button” where you must avoid the deathtraps whilst filling up the timers by standing on the
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