Marooners Review - Playing chaos structure in mini-games is nice

Party games are available in all shapes and sizes and are ideal for an evening with friends or family. On the PlayStation 4 we have seen a few appear in the past year, mainly under the PlayLink label. The latest party game is Marooners and although it is not a PlayLink title, it is a party game pur sang. This title comes from the studio M2H. They go with Marooners in a totally different genre and we have played the game to provide it with a judgment.

A mix of mini-games

Marooners has a nice style that looks a bit like pirates, but you will not go for a treasure hunt. Instead, you will have to play all sorts of mini-games on an uninhabited island and collect as many coins and other shiny objects as possible. The person who has managed to collect the most at the end of the ride may crown himself the winner of the game. Sounds like a simple and fun concept and that is it, but you do not have to expect much more than that.

Marooners is pretty simple in design. You will be presented time and time again a series of mini-games, which are divided into regular mini-games and arena battles. It is up to you to choose for yourself what you like the most, and you get the choice from a chaotic or linear gameplay. In linear you work the mini-game per location before you go to the next and in chaotic exchange between jars while you are still busy. The latter is perhaps the best, because the decisive move can fall later if the game decides to switch to another mini-game.

The mini-games are varied, but there is little that we have not seen before. At one point you have to escape rolling stones and at the other moment you have to stand on the right spot in order not to be crushed. In between you get to deal with icy plateaus where you have to stay on, while others try to slap you from it. The game offers various mini-games so you can definitely enjoy them. Yet we can not deny that you have seen it after an hour or two or three and that is due to two things.

Unclear chaos

The first is that the mini-games are not too special in themselves, because there is hardly any originality to be found. That is not bad in itself, because it can be quite entertaining. But because many of the pots are so short, you have seen the total rotation pretty quickly. The structure on which you play these mini-games - linear or chaotic - ensures some variation and that is actually it. Because whether you play the game at home on the couch or online, there is no variation in the way of playing, because your goal always remains the same.

Another point that you have seen relatively quickly is a more worrisome 'problem'. The action is relatively quick and because you are hooking up with three others on a fairly small play space and try to avoid hazards, you quickly lose track of the overview. Players are often in a clump and the visual effects that come with the moves, the whole changes into a complete chaos of colors without you really can see what you are doing. If you unintentionally run away from a platform for the hundredth time, because your eyes are still focused on a fight that you are no longer participating in, it becomes frustrating.

In addition, some mini-games just do not work nicely enough. So one of the mini-games is that you have to avoid rolling stones that come from behind while you are running forward. These stones also come from the side, but there is no clear indicator when a stone comes. You could avoid it with super-fast reflexes, but more than once you are simply too late. In another game, the overview is just not good enough, so estimating falling stones (from above) is trickier than actually should be. These are still not huge problems, but it can affect the fun and that is a shame.

Cheerful whole

The game has a cheerful style and gradually you can level up so that you unlock new weapons, so there is some form of progress. In addition, it looks visually clean and the music fits very well. In that respect, the absolute basis of the game is in order, but for the rest it is actually not that special or very nice. If you do not have friends, you could measure yourself online with others, although it is not very quiet online, so the chances are that the empty spots will be filled with AI controlled characters. A handy solution, but unfortunately the AI ​​is a bit on the stupid side so they regularly play strange freaks.

Conclusion

Marooners is in essence a nice party game, but different factors still hinder the fun that could be played out. The amount of mini-games is quite low and because it often decays in a chaotic gang, you will quickly get bored. It's very quiet online, so it's a bit questionable how long this game will stay alive. It is not bad at all, but it certainly does not derive the potential from the concept. For a night on the couch with friends it is nice, but at the same time there are plenty of better party games that are just a bit more fun to play.

Pros

➕ Several mini-games are pretty fun
➕ Nice audiovisual style
➕ Playing chaos structure in mini-games is nice

Cons

➖ Few players online
➖ Unclear whole in complete chaos
➖ Some mini-games are not well finished

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