Clive ‘N’ Wrench, from developer Dinosaur Bytes Studios, is a deep dive into the not-so-distant past of gaming. A 3d mascot platformer, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is an ode to the 3d platformers of yesteryear, specifically from the PS2 and N64 era, when the gaming landscape was awash in mascots looking to steal some of Mario’s thunder.
When Professor Merricarp’s time travel blueprints are stolen by the dastardly Dr Daucus, it’s up to the dynamic duo of Clive and Wrench to embark on a time travelling odyssey in a remodelled 1950’s fridge, to stop Daucus from collecting Ancient Stones that will grant him great power. So prepare yourself for a jaunt across time and space as Clive seeks to stop Daucus, fix the timeline and face off against a variety of historical baddies.
If it weren’t for its release date and the hardware it’s running on, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Clive ‘N’ Wrench had been released back during the N64 era. The game isn’t just inspired by the likes of Gex: Enter The Gecko or Banjo Kazooie, it sets out to emulate them in almost every single way, for good and ill. From the mechanics to the visual oddities that characterised early, expansive 3d games, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is awash in the trappings of the time.
From the move set available to our heroes to the low polygon design and the view fog that hides parts of the level, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is a love letter to a time of gaming that was still getting to grips with the 3rd dimension while making the most of the hardware available at the time. And as with those games, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is awash in the same design and performance issues those games had. Wonky collision detection, floaty controls and a frustrating camera are just some of the issues you’ll have to put up with, as though the developers deliberately omitted much of the advances made in game design since then.
And yet, even with those issues, Clive ‘N’ Wrench captures the very appeal of those games in their most important aspect: their fun, playability and imagination.
While you won’t be doing all that much different level to level: seeking out Ancient Stones, collecting watches, destroying a certain amount of things or finding them; the game eleven themed levels keep it fresh and interesting each time. From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt and a wonderfully inspired, Honey I Shrunk The Kids style level, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is fun and entertaining and each area is always a joy to explore.
Whether you’re finding off-the-path sections, bopping enemies by using Wrench as your weapon or simply looking for all the Easter Eggs and shout-outs to other games from that era, there’s always something to see and do. While most of the objectives are the same at each level, I never found myself bored by the repetition.
Clive ‘N’ Wrench does attempt to make the game’s bosses mechanically diverse, to various levels of success. Fighting The Ripper in the Victorian era have you dodging thrown scissors and getting the boss to cut cables that drop an anchor on him. The bayou boss can only be hurt by damaging sack boy-style dolls, all played out on a giant roulette table, while Cleocatra does herself in by cartoonishly walking off the edge of a pyramid.
The minute to minute gameplay though is as you’d expect from this era. Plenty of high places to climb to, some challenging platforming sequences to navigate and plenty of enemies to whack with Wrench. The duo’s move sets are nothing new either; a double jump, a glide ability in which you whirl Wrench around your head like a helicopter blade, a variation of the classic butt stomp, a long jump and a basic attack. You’re not going to get any new skills either but with the levels designed around these skills, you won’t be needing any. The duo sport a pretty floaty jump which, at times makes the game seem to be running slower than it is, but also has the advantage of making longer jumps easier to get to. The one downside to the movie set is swimming, which is just plain awful and very counter-intuitive. I usually skipped submerged collectables to avoid frustration.
One other area that the game suffers from is its camera. It doesn’t always give you the best view of the action and is limited in how high or low you can pan it, leaving you to make some blind jumps at times. You can pop into first-person view to take a gander at things around you, but it’s no substitute for a more manoeuvrable camera.
From a difficulty point of view, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is incredibly easy. The game’s floaty jump mechanics and the overall feel that the designers were aiming for fun over challenge make for a very forgiving game. The bosses produced a challenge only until I learnt their attack patterns but they were always memorable.
Visually Clive ‘N’ Wrench does look like a game from the N64 era. Sure we’re sporting HD resolutions, but the overall level and character design are rather low poly and cartoonishly stylised. It fits the game quite perfectly. Less interesting was the level of fog that slowly peels back as you move forward. Outside of simply using it as a visual aesthetic, there’s no reason for it to be here. Visually, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is not pushing GPUs at all.
Finally, there’s a fair amount of loading to sit through. From the menu to the cut scenes and into the levels themselves, you’re going to encounter a lot of loading screens.
While Clive ‘N’ Wrench does have some issues, and sports gameplay that feels over a decade old, it still manages to be a thoroughly compelling and fun time-hopping adventure. If you’re looking for a retro adventure that will keep you entertained without too much frustration, then Clive ‘N’ Wrench is your go-to game.
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Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Wii U, Mac operating systems
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