Sludge Life Reviews
Caked in a heavy VHS filter with grimy beats emanating from every corner, Sludge Life is the anti-capitalist game to vibe to we need right now.
Sludge Life isn’t a game that will be pleasing for everyone. This is the kind of game that revels in ineffective sarcasm and a sense of dourness. It’s the video game equivalent of a sad mumble rap song, a title that attempts to exude a sense of rebelliousness with a coating of indifference.
Sludge Life feels like the video game version of being under the influence, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While it feels like it might be a little too wrapped up in its own aesthetics at times, it still remembers that it’s a game first and not a video from the weird part of YouTube.
From giant babies to vampires, from talking cats to cats with two buttholes, to snakes in toilets and a guy wearing the exact same pattern as the wallpaper in an attempt to hide from his murderous roommate, Sludge Life is wonderfully mad.
GOOD - Sludge Life is a short but charming visual recreation of what the ‘90s might have looked like if you were consistently on hallucinogenic drugs and into graffiti. If you like either of those things then this might be the game for you.
I think that Sludge Life is a great example of video games as art.
Sludge Life is paradoxical. As a video game it's short, shallow, and often rudderless. As an artistic experiment, however, it's powerful, expressive, and bold.
Sludge Life is a short game that breaks out of the ordinary, offering an exploration environment with lots of unpretentious but still fun elements. Although it doesn't always seem like a game, because it demands very little from the player, the proposal is interesting in itself. Returning to the initial theme, I see Sludge Life much more as an aesthetic experience than a game I want to entertain. And yes, this is very good.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A mediocre exploration game offset by a solid soundtrack and memorable visual style
People familiar with my tastes from my many reviews are likely well aware of my love for more unusual fare, so with that in mind I found Sludge Life to be a bit of quirky fun...
Devolver often delivers weird games that take familiar ideas or mechanics and deliver cool twists on them. Loop Hero is a very good example of how this approach can succeed. Sludge Life has good tunes and a new presentation style but it needed more in the way of either gameplay or narrative to deliver a truly cool experience.
It's understandable that this game's drug use and lack of direction can turn some players off, but I found it wild and truly unique. There's really nothing like it. Sludge Life is a vibe, for sure.
Sludge Life offers a very solid first-person platforming experience wrapped in a quirky, unique aesthetic. Its lack of challenge and brevity may put some off, but it's a wild and wonderful trip that deserves to be experienced.
Honestly, there isn't a whole lot to be said about Sludge Life without giving away its more memorably bizarre bits, of which there are many. It's a twisted, hellish, yet surprisingly charming playground that you'll want to spend a good (if small) chunk of time in, soaking in the off-kilter surrounds, humor and visuals. For a game that basically revolves around a filthy hellhole, there's still a lot of care that was put into making it a unique and fun hellhole and it shows.
Sludge Life is a first-person, open-world platformer filled with strange sightings, childish humor, and a unique retro windows 3.1 UI. For the right platformer gamer, this divergence from the norm may provide several hours of enjoyment, but with no lasting draw to explore apart from graffiti tags and pictures, and no extenuating interaction with the world or characters, don't expect Sludge Life to grab you for more than a few hours.
The world of the game may be small, but it brims with a weird sense of life.
Sludge Life is graffiti-themed a first-person 3D platformer that works really well and is fun to play. Its emphasis on climbing high structures and getting to hard-to-reach areas to drop your tags makes the tough gameplay feel worthwhile. The controls can be a bit finicky, but there's a lot of fun to be had here. There's also a nice blend of real-world commentary and vulgar humor to keep things interesting.
Sludge Life is a strange art piece of a game that is short, surreal, and crass.
Sludge Life is a strange but kind of hypnotic experience, between graffitis and social strikes, using its free exploration to deliver an in-between subtext. If the low-poly visual approach do not repulse you, this like-no-other ride sure offers a few hours of raw discoveries and disturbing encounters.
Review in French | Read full review
Exploring Sludge Life's perfectly-sized world simply doesn't get old and the game runs well enough to make you forget about its occasionally-finicky first-person platforming sections. There's plenty to see and do, find and utilise, and multiple endings to seek out. It won't outstay its welcome and we've got no doubt you'll want to return to Sludge Life just to vibe inside its fascinating little world again - when it's done, you won't feel like you've seen enough quite yet. It's certainly not perfect but it's a life, alright, and an enjoyable one.