Like a lot of older gamers, I have fond memories of playing split-screen shooters on a couch with friends, i.e. Goldeneye, and also of surreptitiously glancing over at those friends' screens so I could find and annihilate them. It wasn't something I was supposed to do, of course, and was generally frowned upon as cheating. Screencheat turns that “cheat” into a necessary survival tactic. Simple, colourful, and fun in short bursts, Screencheat is a multiplayer-only first-person shooter that's all about small arenas, bizarre weapons, and everyone being invisible all the time. And because everyone's invisible, you need to constantly monitor your opponents' screens to find them, turning what would otherwise be a quirky but unremarkable shooter into something absorbingly tense.
The action is fast paced with maps that are reasonably small, but perfectly suited to the game. Screencheat has the mainstay mode of Deathmatch, and has some variations on other traditional multiplayer shooter modes such as capture the flag (known as Capture the Fun - where the flag is actually a piñata horse which leaves a trail of rainbow confetti as you carry it around the map) and king of the hill (known as Hill Campers). But Screencheat also contains some lesser-used modes and introduces a couple of new and interesting modes. Gold Rush has players running around collecting coins like a first person Super Mario. Killing an opponent will gain that person's current tally. The person with the most at the end of the allotted time is the winner. Juggernaut is like a game of volleyball, where gamers only score when they have control, known as being the Juggernaut. All other players need to do then is shoot the Juggernaut in order to gain control.
Although some of the weapons are standard fare for an online shooter (revolver, blunderbuss, grenade launcher), there are some interesting ways to dispose of your enemies. The Hobby Horse, for example, has you galloping around the map on a stick with a horse head, with kills gained by charging at the opposition players. The candelabra is a great melee weapon, burning enemies at close range. The Bear Bomb works in much the same way as the sheep bomb in the Worm’s series, walking towards the desired area before detonating. The Wall Hacker is a rather unique device that, as its name suggests, allows gamers to shoot through walls. Enemies will, of course, need to be in a direct line behind the wall to score a hit. The Chefolet is a car motor-looking weapon that shoots out a ball of light similar to the plasma gun in Doom. It does a fair bit of damage, but it is easy to detect.
Conclusion
With its wide variety of modes, both original and well-loved, Screencheat is a good co-op shooter that is perfect for a party. Slot this between a couple rounds of Tower Fall: Ascension and Sports Friends, and you’ll be having a jolly old time.
BY ADE
REVIEW - PS4
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