Picture this: in a post-apocalyptic rendition of Earth, where mankind is no longer around to ruin everything for everyone, most small animals we know and hate have mutated to the point of growing limbs and being intelligent enough to create weaponry and civilizations. We then meet a grumpy alcoholic snail with a penchant for weapons and trouble. He gets ousted from his tribe, only to embark in a series of completely nonsensical adventures such as fighting a rat wielding a flamethrower. Such bonkers concept has been adapted into video game format, and it goes by the name of Clid the Snail.

Clid the Snail mixes this lunatic premise with your standard twin-stick shooter control scheme. You run around the map in a top-down perspective and gun down snails, rats, and other small (mutated) animals, while unveiling secrets and solving small puzzles in each of the game’s levels. There is a bit of Dark Souls imbued in here as well. You can see the influence looming over Clid the Snail‘s dodging system, stamina bar, limited health items, the fact even the weakest of foes can pack one hell of a punch, and the game’s overall art style. Everything is dreary and dark, but also applied to the size and scope of small animals, in a quasi-goth A Bug’s Life kind of way.

The game does feature some creative levels and interesting vistas, but I don’t think its character designs mix well with the occasionally goofy premise. Take the titular Clid, for instance. He’s as gross as a snail with legs can be. He doesn’t feature exaggerated features or charming traits. His design is way too serious and charmless, even though the game does its best to give him some backstory and a personality. The developers even decided to give each and every character lines of spoken dialogue in some bizarre gibberish language that sounded way too much like Greedo from Star Wars. I cannot say that was a good decision, since it sounds awful, but they still tried. Sadly, serious characters and a premise revolving around snails with frickin’ lasers don’t match.

The gameplay doesn’t match with the overall level design, either. Twin-stick shooters are best enjoyed in large arenas, where you’re given space to move around and shoot enemies at a distance. As previously mentioned, Clid the Snail borrows its level design philosophy from Dark Souls instead. While I do appreciate the added element of exploration and hidden items to collect, these narrow and dark hallways are not a good fit for a frantic shooter.

Very rarely you’re able to actually take advantage of your weaponry in open spaces, and when you do, you’re then hampered by weak weapons, poor aiming controls, and some irritating bosses with an excessive amount of health. Clid’s weapons don’t pack a punch, forcing you to keep charging your shots in order to do any kind of meaningful damage, for instance. I was supposed to enjoy a stupidly over-the-top fight against Clid the Snail‘s ridiculous bosses, but I loathed each and every mandatory encounter. Ironically enough, I enjoyed the game when I was exploring and collecting items, not when I was shooting down neanderthal slugs.

Clid the Snail is unique, but not exactly very fun. Even if its core concept stands out from the rest of its peers, it suffers from a gameplay loop that clashes with its level design, and an overall lack of charm in its presentation and characters. Twin-stick shooters are a dime a dozen in the indie and AA scene, and even the pretty decent ones struggle to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Clid the Snail just isn’t able to make the cut. Even if playing as a bipedal snail with a laser gun is different from anything else I’ve played, I can’t say I was having the time of my life with it.

 

Graphics: 6.5 Clid the Snail features some creative level designs, but its characters and color palette, as well as its blinding flashing lights, leave a lot to be desired.	Gameplay: 6.0 The weapons at your disposal and the Souls-like level design clash in a negative way with Clid the Snail‘s subpar twin-stick control scheme.
Sound: 5.0 Between the poor mixing, bland soundtrack, and bizarre Star Wars-esque “voice acting”, Clid the Snail is a game best experienced at a lower volume.	Fun Factor: 5.5 It’s a unique game, but it’s not exactly very fun, due to the aforementioned gameplay issues, as well as an overall lack of charm.
Final Verdict: 6.0

Clid the Snail is available now on PS4.

Reviewed on PS4.

A copy of Clid the Snail was provided by the publisher.