Video Game Review: Sombrero Spaghetti Western Mayhem - the Good, the Bad, and the multiplayer

Developer PixelMetal
Publisher Alliance Digital Media
Distributor Alliance Digital Media
Where we got our copy Alliance Digital Media
Genre Platformer
Game modes Multiplayer
Players 2-4
Reviewed on PC

Where to buy Steam

Sparrowhawk

Published March 7, 2017

It has been a long time since I’ve played a good couch multiplayer game. I don’t have a couch and live halfway around the world from most of my friends. So that might explain it. But, with the poncho-flipping promise of a Spaghetti Western twin-stick pistol toting, platform hopping action game like Sombrero, I rustled up some friends and gave it a go.

Sombrero: Spaghetti Western Mayhem takes its cues from other couch multiplayer titles like Duck Game and Towerfall: Ascension. Those are are big cowboy boots to fill. You can definitely expect frantic shouts of triumph and more than the occasional expletive. A great twist is the way the game mixes in twin-stick shooter style controls on a gamepad. This simplifies the controls down and really sells the pacing. It does also mean the controls seem a little counter-intuitive at first glance – with jump on the trigger buttons. Necessity drove the choice, and it does work well in game.

Sombrero supports up to four players in both online and local multiplayer. The core experience definitely favours local, though. The game offers a combination of four different play modes and five arena layouts. The arenas look great, with distinctive visuals and unique mechanics. Clampett’s Hideaway has ladders, the Monasterio has bells you can ricochet bullets off of. The game also boasts a host of characters ranging from Clint Eastwood lookalikes to Cthulu-esque monsters, to a piece of cheese.

Now the strength of Sombrero is delivering on the feel of a crazed shoot-out. Different coloured bullets fly everywhere. The screen shakes with explosions from the obligatory flammable barrels. Loads of power-ups keep things changing. You’ll find yourself frantically yelling at your character to reload faster, as you jump in vain to escape the carnage. The different modes also tease out slightly different play styles. Deathmatch, a race to ten kills, favours blasting wildly and nabbing any power up. Capture the Flag encourages a quick kill-and-run style. Loot mode is for the skilled platformer, requiring you to navigate the arena quickly to nab as many bags of dolleros as possible. The final mode, Banditos, has players scramble to grab and hold the Monkey Idol power-up, which allows you to blast without reloading while the remaining players try to gun you down and take it for themselves.

Respawns are quick on death, and varied power-ups come thick and fast. Even though we sometimes wound up spawning practically in the same place, it tended to feel more like unpredictable mayhem than poor design. The arena sizes on the whole keep the action nicely contained. That said, with more than two players it can sometimes be rather chaotic, with a lot of action onscreen to keep track of. That said, we were laughing, screaming, and having a lot of fun as the bullets flew. Again, a range of modes is a plus here as Banditos feels more dynamic with more players, while Capture the Flag works nicely with two.

However, Sombrero’s flaws quickly reveal themselves, and I don’t mean the couple of times when the keyboard-controls sent a player careening off to one side with dogged determination. Rather, while the environments are charming and detailed, some of the cues could be made a lot clearer. Sometimes bullets can pass through platforms, while on other maps they can’t. And while it is possible to learn which rules apply when, it would help immensely to have some clear affordances or markers to tell players immediately about their environment.

The confounded explosive barrels, too, could become a real nuisance. They pulse from bright to dull red, sometimes fading from view as the screen is dominated by the bright colours of player attacks. You find yourself running pointlessly into an impassable barrier which then detonates into your face. And on some maps, these barrels can pose a real obstacle to platforming. On the one hand, this makes traversal a tactical challenge, but on the other this can intrude on what should feel like a running battle as you have to stop and plan your route to avenge yourself, or you find yourself squinting at the screen trying to work out why you aren’t moving.

What underlies this criticism, however, is a slight but noticeable sluggishness in the controls, particularly for jumping. In a fast-paced game like this, the controls should feel really responsive and quick on the draw, but it’s hard to feel like Clint Eastwood when you miss your jumps and go slamming face-first into walls. Combine the clumsy controls with imprecise ladders on one arena, and very tight corridor spacing in another, some of the arenas don’t feel as polished and playable as others.

And while the twin-stick style feels great on a game-pad, the mouse targeting adds its own problems to the mix. When you spawn, there is always a moment where you need to get your bearings before flicking the analogue stick in your enemies’ direction to start firing. But with the mouse reticule, this isn’t a feature. You don’t need to wait and see where you spawn. You can just stick the reticule on your opponents and spawn all guns blazing! Perhaps to counter this advantage, the mouse sensitivity feels like your character is aiming after a couple of shots in the saloon. While this does help to balance out the first issue, it adds another layer of sluggishness to the controls.

That all said, Sombrero is fun to play with a bunch of friends. The environments, especially the Monasterio de los Muertos, or the rickety-bridged Jones Hill Boneyard, would fit in any Sergio Leone film. The soundtrack is a glorious tribute to Ennio Morricone’s style. These really add great flavour to the game. Sombrero was fun for a lot of the time, even though with only a few of us it started to get a bit stale.

Because of this, I doubt Sombrero will have the same feeling of frantic fun played online with strangers. I couldn’t test this theory, unfortunately. A combination of its small community and my time zone differences from the US-based servers meant the multiplayer lobby was a ghost town on each attempt. That’s a pity, as the game does has a lot of potential. For a fairly low price tag Sombrero is a worthwhile title for anyone looking to add to their couch multiplayer collection.

It has been a long time since I’ve played a good couch multiplayer game. I don't have a couch and live halfway around the world from most of my friends. So that might explain it. But, with the poncho-flipping promise of a Spaghetti Western twin-stick pistol toting, platform hopping action game like Sombrero, I rustled up some friends and gave it a go. Sombrero: Spaghetti Western Mayhem takes its cues from other couch multiplayer titles like Duck Game and Towerfall: Ascension. Those are are big cowboy boots to fill. You can definitely expect frantic shouts of triumph and more than the occasional expletive. A great twist is the way the game mixes in twin-stick shooter style controls on a gamepad. This simplifies the controls down and really sells the pacing. It does also mean the controls seem a little counter-intuitive at first glance – with jump on the trigger buttons. Necessity drove the choice, and it does work well in game. Sombrero supports up to four players in both online and local multiplayer. The core experience definitely favours local, though. The game offers a combination of four different play modes and five arena layouts. The arenas look great, with distinctive visuals and unique mechanics. Clampett's Hideaway has ladders, the Monasterio has bells you can ricochet bullets off of. The game also boasts a host of characters ranging from Clint Eastwood lookalikes to Cthulu-esque monsters, to a piece of cheese. Now the strength of Sombrero is delivering on the feel of a crazed shoot-out. Different coloured bullets fly everywhere. The screen shakes with explosions from the obligatory flammable barrels. Loads of power-ups keep things changing. You’ll find yourself frantically yelling at your character to reload faster, as you jump in vain to escape the carnage. The different modes also tease out slightly different play styles. Deathmatch, a race to ten kills, favours blasting wildly and nabbing any power up. Capture the Flag encourages a quick kill-and-run style. Loot mode is for the skilled platformer, requiring you to navigate the arena quickly to nab as many bags of dolleros as possible. The final mode, Banditos, has players scramble to grab and hold the Monkey Idol power-up, which allows you to blast without reloading while the remaining players try to gun you down and take it for themselves. Respawns are quick on death, and varied power-ups come thick and fast. Even though we sometimes wound up spawning practically in the same place, it tended to feel more like unpredictable mayhem than poor design. The arena sizes on the whole keep the action nicely contained. That said, with more than two players it can sometimes be rather chaotic, with a lot of action onscreen to keep track of. That said, we were laughing, screaming, and having a lot of fun as the bullets flew. Again, a range of modes is a plus here as Banditos feels more dynamic with more players, while Capture the Flag works nicely with two. However, Sombrero’s flaws quickly reveal…

Video Game Review: Sombrero Spaghetti Western Mayhem – the Good, the Bad, and the multiplayer

2017-03-07

Sparrowhawk

Total - 6.5

65 6.5

Sombrero has a lot of potential as a couch multiplayer game at parties, and with a bigger online community it could branch out. In spite of some sluggish controls and a bug or two, it's worth bringing out for a couple of rounds when you have some friends around, with its fast paced rounds and great look and soundtrack.

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Sparrowhawk

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Brendan hides behind both LCD and DM screens from the lure of adult life. Perpetual student on hiatus and freelance writer of things. Indie game enthusiast. Maker of puns and cuddler of cats.

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