DLC Quest
Developer: Going Loud Studios | Publisher: Going Loud Studios | Release Date: 2013 | Genre: Platformer / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam
Indie platform games “with a twist” are a dime a dozen these days but when the twist is that you have to fork over cash for game additions such as moving left, pausing, animation and music it’s hard not to take notice. Fortunately the cash comes in the form of in-game coins your character has to collect but players tired of the cash grab DLC trend that is infecting modern games will appreciate the humor on offer.
The majority of your time in DLC quest is spent hunting down coins in order to buy DLC. Most of the DLC such as double-jumping, map packs and so on is required to make progress in the game but there are some totally unnecessary (not to mention very funny) DLC such as zombies on offer as well. There’s even a nice brown “high definition” DLC and horse armor available.
It only took me thirty minutes to finish the game but I had a lot of fun along the way. It is hardly the most challenging game I ever played but the goofy visuals which look like a cross between South Park and 8bit sprites drew me in and the humor kept me playing. Even for the very low asking price this would have been a bit bare bones so fortunately there is a second episode titled “Live Freemium Or Die” also on offer. This episode offers a slightly bigger challenge as you can actually lose health and die but after about an hour it was done and dusted as well. All in all both episodes were entertaining enough for me to go back and mop up all the achievements apart from the speed run ones.
If you are a fan of platform titles then you will appreciate what DLC Quest has to offer. The whole finding coins to purchase DLC in order to progress gimmick works quite well and it is almost a pity that the gameworld is so small. The second episode has a larger playing area (with the ability to buy checkpoint DLC) but the most dangerous thing you will face in the game is some spiked pits. Apart from mocking the whole DLC craze the game also pokes fun at other titles with references to cakes, arrows in the knee and never asking for things. The audio and sound effects are nothing to write home about but it suits the game and never becomes annoying.
Considering the cheap price it’s hard not to recommend DLC Quest. The game is quite fun once you get into it and the speedrun leaderboards as well as achievements extends the longevity somewhat. If you are not a fan of the genre or don’t link retro, 2D visuals then you can skip DLC Quest but everyone else will find a witty and entertaining little title.
*Review originally published March 2013.
System Requirements
- Minimum PC System Requirements
- Recommended PC System Requirements
- Minimum Mac OS X System Requirements
- Recommended Mac OS X System Requirements
- OS:Windows XP
- Processor:1.6 GHz
- Memory:512 MB RAM
- Graphics:DirectX 9, Shader Model 2.0, 128MB
- Hard Drive:200 MB HD space
- OS:Windows 7
- Processor:2.0 GHz
- Graphics:DirectX 9, Shader Model 2.0, 256MB
- OS:10.6.8
- Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz
- Memory:512 MB RAM
- Graphics:Shader Model 2.0, 128MB
- Hard Drive:100 MB HD space
- OS:10.7
- Memory:1 GB RAM
- Graphics:Shader Model 2.0, 256MB