Valley
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Valley
In moments of immense speed, Valley’s basic first-person platforming creates some excitement. But those are just moments, and they’re spaced too far apart with empty environments and forgettable combat between them. There are some interesting ideas scattered throughout the world but they’re very hard to care about, since there’s nobody around to be influenced by your actions. A seemingly pointless resource management system presents some interesting aesthetics, but overall, Valley very rarely presents the challenge or consequence it really needs to be addictive.
A strange, yet satisfying experience with roots in first-person storytelling, but it wants to be a superhero game at heart
Valley is an exciting experience in motion, but its momentum is cut short by the all too brief adventure.
For those who can’t get enough of weird first-person treats, this will be a smorgasbord. For everyone else, it’s the perfect game to throw on for an evening’s worth of entertainment. Just don’t expect to retain much of it past your brief fling.
A very basic and reductive way to describe Valley would be to say it’s a virtual jungle gym riddled with various toys and obstacles that are complemented well by the LEAF suit.
Valley is a surprisingly smart and fun adventure game with fluid movement and intuitive controls, although it doesn’t last long.
Despite a few missteps, Valley is an overall rush of an experience. Taking cues from BioShock with some Fern Gully on the side, there are few games that can claim to put players into the metal legs of an interdimensional necromantic freerunner, and be bloody infatuating while it does so.
The first few minutes of Valley show a lot of potential, but it quickly falls short, and gives way to repetition, a bad narrative, and some downright disappointing game design. Lasting only 3-4 hours, $20 is a steep price for an experience that leaves you bored and frustrated as often as it proves to be an enjoyable experience.
