PC Preview Code Provided by Joystick Ventures
Today is the day that the gates of hell open up and players can get their first day of work at your office in hell - or race through it rather. Developers 43 Studios and publisher Joystick Ventures are launching Hell of an Office on Steam’s Early Access, giving access to the first handful of segments in the game. You can check out my initial playthrough of the full preview above, but it definitely left a lot of room for improvement, unlike the game itself which feels very well fleshed out even in its early build state.
Gameplay
The basis of the game is straightforward - you gotta go fast and beat the level as quickly as possible! You have your basic movement controls, but the main aspects you’ll be using to get through the levels include dashing and shooting your stapler. Yes, a stapler is your weapon in this game and you will be using it for maneuvering through the level.
Dashing is exactly what you think it is and it also includes a light jump, so you will go slightly upward as well. This helps you cross distances, but you don’t have a second dash to work with so learning the distance you cover in a single dash is something you want to mentally note during the first segment of the game.
As for the stapler gun, you will use that to do what has come to be known as ‘rocket jumping’ which is basically shooting the ground below you to blast you upwards in the air. A little way into the game you will also use it to shoot holes in paper-blocked walls that block your path. These two uses are essential to the game as shooting a paper wall is a big part of the game after it is introduced. As for rocket jumping, doing this successfully will recharge the use of your dash.
Because of the dash recharge on a successful rocket jump, your movements will often lead into segments where you dash forward to a floating chunk of a wall, rocket jump on the wall, dash to the next wall chunk, and then repeat this process until you reach a more solid ground and/or the end level portal.
The game does add some challenge to it by making each level have their own time limit. The time limit is provided by the lava below the level rising and consuming the level as you race your way through it. The further into the game you get, the more elements they start adding to make the game more unique and challenging, which can be hard to do while the lava constantly threatens you. You can turn that off in the settings, but then where would the challenge and pressure come from?
Expectations
They managed to make so few control options into gameplay that feels varied, fun, and challenging even on repeat. Plus, the deeper into the game you get, the more elements of the game they add without making it direct controls for the player. Instead, they are putting unique movements and challenges into the levels. I look forward to seeing how intense and diverse the later game levels become after the constant additions in each new segment.
I do hope that we get one or two more control options. The different uses of the stapler and dashing are fun, but what about double-dashing, sliding, wall running, or the other plethora of parkour movements out there? This is something that could improve the game further if implemented and added properly.
Verdict
Hell of an Office is bringing players into a workspace that is a blast to escape! This game is seriously set up with a solid foundation and has nowhere to go but up. While the game may be fast-paced, I hope the developers are taking their time to nitpick through the future levels to keep the challenge moving forward and not letting it stagnate. I will say that the hardest level of the current preview is the last level in Chapter 2, in my opinion, which was a bit of a letdown as I was imagining the game only getting harder. Hopefully, that won’t be the case when the game fully releases. For now, this is definitely a game I recommend to any fast-paced-loving gamers.
Hell of an Office is coming tomorrow, March 14th, for PC via Steam’s Early Access.
