The Cub Review

In recent years, I have become increasingly fond of small projects that are not popular. Of course, AAA games impress with their cinematic style, realistic graphics, and diverse gameplay, but this is only one part of the industry. But isn't it interesting to see what small teams can do? The gg editorial team received The Cub for review and will share their impressions to help you understand whether the game is worth buying.

The Cub is a post-apocalyptic 2D platformer by Demagog. The Earth has become uninhabitable, and the richest people have flown to Mars. However, those who remained were able to develop immunity and adapt to life on the dead planet. Our protagonist is one of them, and very quickly he finds himself in the midst of interesting events that he will have to experience.

The developers were inspired by the old-school SEGA games of the 90s: The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Thanks to this, in some locations, you will have to repeatedly return to the control point until you remember everything that needs to be done.

5 reasons to buy The Cub:

• The post-apocalyptic atmosphere is well conveyed
• You've never played a platformer before
• You liked the previous Demagog game - Golf Club Nostalgia
• You are looking for a game to play on the go on a portable console
• You want to support a small studio

2 reasons not to buy The Cub:

• You're not ready to spend money on a small indie game
• You've played so many platformers that this genre can't surprise you

Fast forward:

• What did we learn after reviewing The Cub?
• Plot: wild people destroyed the Earth and for some reason decided to return
• Gameplay: dynamics, parkour and a little bit of stealth
• Dead Earth still creates beauty: the technical side of the game
• Five things you need to know about The Cub

What did we learn after reviewing The Cub?

After the 20-hour metroidvania of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the depressing and harsh The Last of Us Part II Remastered, the soul wanted a small game for one or two evenings, and The Cub successfully fulfilled this desire.

How many 2D platformers have we seen? So many that we can't even count. However, throughout the game, the authors are trying to convey a message that is important for all mankind, and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere, which I love, and the notes of retro platformers (especially The Jungle Book) make The Cub a good game.

First of all, I would recommend paying attention to the project to those people who have hardly played platformers at all. Also, the game will find its audience among those who play on Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, because such projects are ideal for portable consoles.

The plot: wild people destroyed the Earth and for some reason decided to return

The Earth suffered from the Great Ecological Disaster, and those who had the opportunity left the planet and moved to Mars. But humans can adapt to many situations, and our protagonist, a little boy, is a good example of this. He has developed immunity to stay in post-apocalyptic conditions, and at the same time, he was raised by wolves, so he feels as comfortable as possible in the wild.

Many years passed and the inhabitants of Mars decided to return to Earth for their expedition. I don't know what exactly they expected to see on the planet they had destroyed, but the appearance of the boy scares them and arouses their interest at the same time. And now our little guy has to survive and not fall into the clutches of the expedition, and at the same time arrange some pranks for them to make life more fun (at least for the main character).

You shouldn't expect a twisted plot like in Inside, but the authors use one interesting technique that can make this story stand out from other platformers. The protagonist constantly addresses the player while destroying the fourth wall. He doesn't say: "They destroyed this planet". In his lines, you can hear that it was WE who did it. It wasn't some obscure expedition from Mars that came. It was WE who came to cause even more trouble.

And this makes the story more emotional and lively. Throughout the game, the authors are trying to convey the following obvious, but at the same time important message: if we behave like the people who flew to Mars in the game, our planet will also face the post-apocalypse. But when they don't just try to describe it, but address it to you personally, it has a more significant effect.

I also liked the main character himself. It feels like a child who grew up in the wild. He is not shy about anything or anyone. When the boy is looking at something, he constantly scratches his fifth point. When he eats something, he burps. But at the same time, he is a clever boy who knows how to win in any given situation. One day he stole a golf ball from the Martians, and they got angry because they couldn't play their favourite game anymore. While telling this story, you could feel that the hero was pleased with himself. But you also need to be able to get so close to people with guns, make them angry and get away with it.

By the way, this moment with golf shows that the events of Golf Club Nostalgia and The Cub take place in the same universe.

At the same time, all the time we will be finding books, newspapers, messages and TV recordings to understand how people lived before the disaster and what happened at all. And this is one of the rare cases when I collected almost everything in the game. Firstly, it is very easy to find all these things. Secondly, most of them are really interesting (especially the TVs) and everything is quite easy to read.

However, I didn't like the moment before the final scene. Somehow everything turned out to be very smeared. It feels like there should have been a short game episode. The journey ended too abruptly, which affected my impressions. So I would pay more attention to the final minutes of the game.

Gameplay: dynamics, parkour, and a bit of stealth

The basic gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played platformers at least once.

You will constantly have to jump from one place to another, and sometimes use the environment and your acrobatic skills to do so. For example, grabbing a rope to swing and jump if the distance between two ledges is too large for a normal jump. In some situations, you'll have to go down a slope rapidly and jump off at the right moment to avoid falling and breaking.

Sometimes you will encounter local fauna at the locations, which is better not to communicate with. These can be strange creatures that shoot poisonous needles if you get close to them. Crocodiles that live in the water. Or beetles that will shock you if you touch them. So, when you meet these creatures, you often have to act faster and think one step ahead to avoid getting an electric shock or a poisonous needle in your back.

You will also have to meet people and more, but let it be a surprise. And you'll have to use different tactics for each Martian. One will try to catch you constantly, and the only right decision for you is to run forward and catch the right moment to dodge. The other will constantly set traps in front of you, and you have to jump over them. Or you can meet an enemy with whom the gameplay will turn into stealth, because he has a machine gun, so various shelters become your friends and assistants.

And thanks to this, the game is constantly dynamic. At first, you jump around the ruins or in the jungle, then you try to avoid the wild creatures of the planet, and then you have to escape from people (there are no puzzles in the game, by the way). And these elements, sometimes with the addition of something new, are constantly alternating, so none of the episodes get boring. Sometimes there was so much dynamics in the game that on some levels I went to the save point 10 times.

We add to this a constant change of locations and places of stay, because we will be on the ground, in the water, and even in the air. We consolidate all this with the inspiration of the developers from the classic SEGA platformers of the 90s, and we get a good set of solutions. Yes, you shouldn't expect innovations in the genre from the game, but you won't get bored playing The Cub. All in all, Demagog has created an interesting, sometimes driving platformer that leaves a pleasant impression.

Dead Earth still creates beauty: the technical side of the game

I played the game on PlayStation 5, and it works flawlessly. It kept 60 frames per second the whole time, I didn't encounter a single bug, and the game never crashed.

Post-apocalyptic visuals

Visuals are one of the best components of The Cub. The authors did their best to create picturesque locations with a different palette of shades. Densely green jungle; skyscrapers that have already turned into ruins; green fields with windmills and bison; mines; purple forests that have become so due to the release of chemicals; shops with neon signs near which a giraffe walks and sea arenas that have a trace of a giant industrial city.

It seems like a post-apocalypse here, but it's so atmospheric and attractive to the eye. Everything around is so pleasant that I had one thought in my head all the time: "Someone should make a cartoon in this style". So, I would like to praise the game's artists for all this hard work. If you took a screenshot at almost every location, it says a lot. But this does not mean that we have to kill the planet to get such beautiful landscapes in real life.

Audio with radio and rap

Sounds are another strong point of the game. Almost at the very beginning, the boy finds the helmet of a dead Martian and puts it on his head. But the thing about this helmet is that it broadcasts a radio station from Mars called Radio Nostalgia. From time to time, we will hear monologues from the presenter or the soundtrack. In most cases, the host's speeches are interesting, and sometimes he even tells the inhabitants of Mars about events that are happening to us right now. So it's doubly interesting to listen to this, because the Martians transmit and perceive information differently from what it really is.

And it's an interesting decision to turn a seemingly decorative object into an element that holds 80% of the entire audio track.

The soundtrack also deserves special attention. There are different compositions in the game: from calm to driving rap. All of them sound good. I even added one song to my playlist. It's a very interesting experience to walk on a post-apocalyptic Earth with rap playing in your helmet.

The authors even worked on the smallest details. For example, if you go underwater, the sound from the helmet will be muffled.

Thanks to these visual and sound solutions, The Cub has created an atmosphere that immediately immerses you in its world.

Five things you need to know about The Cub

• The Cub is a post-apocalyptic 2D platformer by Demagog
• The game takes place in the same world as Golf Club Nostalgia, another Demagog game
• The Cub does not bring something innovative to the genre, but offers the player a dynamic gameplay
• During development, the authors were inspired by old-school SEGA games of the 90s: The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and The Lion King
• The game can be completed in 1-2 evenings

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