When I first loaded up Cyanide & Happiness: Freakpocalypse, I was a bit surprised to see that it was only going to be Part 1. At first, I thought that maybe that was just how they laid out the chapters of the game and that I was still going to get the full game, but it seems that Explosm and Skeleton Crew Studios are releasing the game in sections. I knew that they were planning on releasing a “tragilogy,” but I thought they meant there was going to be more than just Freakpocalypse. Even so, the game was overall entertaining and left me wanting more by the end of it. Let’s dig into why I still have a positive take on this adventure through comical shorts.

Story

Coop is a regular high school loser who is on the biggest mission of his life: finding a date to prom. Seeing how nobody likes him, this task is proving to be a difficult one and thus leads him on an adventure throughout his town. Being a natural screw-up, he is going to have to somehow manage to find a date while avoiding his bullies and trying not to start the end of the world!

Gameplay

Unlike most point-and-click games, this one gives you the option to move around the map using basic movement controls on your keyboard. I found this to be a more natural way to get through the game, but its best to double it with the agility that the mouse can provide. While the movement speed is the same using the keyboard or clicking where to go, you can enter doorways faster by double-clicking on them. Even if you decide to walk up to the door you want to get through, if it isn’t an open pathway then you will have to click on it anyways.

Pretty much every interaction you make in the game, be it with an NPC or an item, you will be using your mouse to click on it. This goes from making dialogue selections when interacting with a character as well. If you want to use an item on something in the environment or to combine to items in your inventory, you will have to simply use the drag-and-drop method. If the action doesn’t trigger anything then you will be prompted with a comical quote by Coop mentioning how dumb he feels for trying that.

With simplistic controls, the focus of the game is finding all the items you need to finish missions - be is main or side missions - and then using them for the right reason. The side missions tend to unlock outfit pieces for your character to choose from while the main missions progress you forward in the story. When you reach a point in the game where moving to the next step in a mission is going to change the range of locations you can work with, they prompt you that you won’t be able to return in their own Cyanide & Happiness way, so make sure you finish all the side missions you want to do before you proceed.

Visuals

If you have ever watched a Cyanide & Happiness short comic, then you know exactly what the game will look like. They literally made a full video game version of their crazy world and even threw in some key moments to be triggered with your mission completions.

Sounds

Same thing as visual. They plucked all of the sound effects and voiceovers that you get from the animated shorts and put them into this video game.

Replayability

Other than wanting to complete all of the side missions or go through all the dialogue with side characters that you don’t really interact with along the way, there isn’t much reason to play through the game once it has been beaten.

What Could Be Better

I feel that they could have been clearer that the game was going to be released in Parts. Even on the Steam review section, a lot of the negative reviews are talking about the game being too short and only having Part 1 available right now. I believe the other parts are going to be simply added through game updates and not cost users any more money to enjoy, so really this just seemed like a communication error.

The hint system they have set up for the missions is truly unhelpful. I don’t know if they are unhelpful intentionally, but I never once clicked on a mission’s hint and what it told me helped me solve that mission. I’ve played through quite a few puzzle games where the hint system guides players where to go without telling them straight out, but this game doesn’t do that for you. If it isn’t intentional, then they need to be a bit more clearer on what to do.

Conclusion

Cyanide & Happiness: Freakpocalypse - Part 1 is an entertaining beginning to what looks to be a big, crazy adventure! I really enjoyed my playthrough of the game and found some of the puzzles to be difficult, likely due to overthinking at times. I wish we got more than just the first part of the game, but the drive to want more is more of a compliment than it is a complaint. Therefore, I have to say that they are off to a good start with this comedy adventure.