The Next Penelope
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for The Next Penelope
The Next Penelope may be quite a short experience but it's one that will challenge your skills and dazzle you at the same time.
The Next Penelope is a blast to play on PC, and will probably be a massive hit at parties when it arrives on Wii U later this year. It's a shame more old-school racers aren't around, but with games like this and 90s Arcade Racer, the scene is seeing a revival that brings a huge smile to my face.
The Next Penelope: Race to Odysseus is an unexpected surprise, a racing game that features a plot and one that involves classical mythology is certainly unusual but its wide variety of content and challenging level, as well as simple and intuitive gameplay, make this game stand out. Pity that it lacks an online multiplayer component.
Review in Portuguese |
In a way, The Next Penelope is a truly impressive task, one that could be well worth of the labors of Hercules: it's the dream of a single and very talented designer turned into a peculiar mix of driving, adventure and shooter (with a kick-ass art direction). However, in another way this one-man project could also be considered as a missed opportunity: the single ingredients were probably better than the sum of their parts, and the final recipe feels a bit too short and half-baked.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A blend of gameplay inspirations and styles, melded into one solid experience, the voyage of The Next Penelope is kept to one straight short path, but has notable value in revisits and repeat play. A shockingly robust, if also rather brief, multiplayer mode, and a gorgeous visual style round off a package that evokes the classic gameplay of F-Zero and Micro Machines, yet somehow makes the experience its own. Those looking for a lengthy narrative may be disappointed, but the Time Trial features and quick burst gameplay will keep many coming back for more.
At the end of the day, The Next Penelope isn't a racing game. It is an adventure game that happens to use racing as one of its core mechanics.
The Next Penelope brings back the classic overhead racing formula in a fun, exciting, and surprisingly varied way but its limited single player content makes it a somewhat less than stellar Odyssey.
As a whole The Next Penelope looks like a racer but plays out in a way that blends in elements of adventure and relies on strategy in a variety of ways. If you’re struggling in a particular level the issue will usually revolve around over-use of your powers and running too low on energy so judicious use of both should always be on your mind. While it may not be an experience for everyone if you’ve been looking for something different to throw several hours of unexpected challenges at you The Next Penelope delivers.
