Slap Village Chapter One: Reality Slap Review
The whimsy and charm of Reality Slap won me over despite its rough spots. Not only did I have fun playing it, it left me wanting more.
Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure
Release date: July 21, 2016
Ostensibly set in the Old West, Slap Village Chapter One: Reality Slap is an amusing mash-up of both antiquated and contemporary elements. Mixed in with typical Old West accoutrements you’ll find such things as extraterrestrials, computers, time travel, conspiracy theories, anti-grav technology and the Internet.
As it happens, I have several things in common with Lurditas, the game’s protagonist. Aside from the obvious fact that we’re both female, we both have blonde hair (although hers is slightly orange-ish) and green eyes. She and I both have a mouse (the four-legged variety), although hers is a pet named Rasta, and mine is a nuisance named $!&*%. Further, Lurditas has big feet, and I…er…moving right along.
Reality Slap is delivered in five Acts and an Epilogue. As the game begins, Lurditas and Rasta are preparing to leave their home in Golden Onion to spend the summer with Lurditas’ granny in Slap Village.
After a somewhat hair-raising trip to the train station (and foiling a robbery while in transit to Slap Village), Lurditas arrives at her destination only to discover that granny has gone missing. The balance of the game is spent searching for her.
I really like Lurditas as a character. She’s a spunky lass who thinks nothing of, say, entering a foot-wrestling contest in an effort to oust the reigning tough-guy champion. I think her personality is an excellent fit for Reality Slap‘s outlandish story, with its off-the-wall NPCs and oddball locations.
Within Reality Slap‘s narrative you’ll also find references to such sci-fi classics as Back to the Future and Star Wars. Some scenes near the end will be familiar to anyone who has seen Contact. The game also gives a nod to Sherlock Holmes.
Navigation is classic point-and-click. The game’s UI is quite simple, supplying both inventory and map.
The dialog can be quite amusing but is peppered with errors, betraying the fact that it’s been translated by someone whose native language isn’t English. Pronunciation of words in the voiceovers also leaves a little to be desired, and sentence structure can be awkward. There are times when subtitles don’t match spoken dialog.
The voices themselves, with one exception, are okay — neither earth-shattering nor terrible. The exception is Lurditas. Just as I find her character appealing, I find her voice and delivery quite pleasant.
Ordinarily, I might have a problem with such errors in dialog. In the case of Reality Slap, however, they simply enhance the game’s eccentricities. In fact, I might not have enjoyed the game as much as I did if everything had been perfect.
Reality Slap’s cartoon style is colorful and pleasing to the eye, as is the animation. The game’s music — some of which ended up stuck in my head — is catchy and enhances the goings-on. It’s never intrusive or overbearing.
Most of the game’s puzzles are inventory-based. But what’s required to solve a few of them isn’t readily apparent.
In addition, the game has a somewhat confounding multi-part word puzzle in which one error sends you back to the very beginning. This drove me slightly nuts, but perseverance ultimately paid off.
I also had trouble with a puzzle that appears on a cave wall near the end of the game. I eventually solved it by accident.
(Note: The game’s Steam Page indicates that Reality Slap has “demanding jigsaw puzzles.” In reality, there are no jigsaw puzzles.)
The good news is that the game can be saved at will. The bad news is that the save system is somewhat faulty. It didn’t always work for me, resulting in my having to replay parts of the game.
There are certain in-game events that trigger readable newspaper stories. In order to view these, however, you must save the game and exit to the main menu. You must also exit to change the game’s settings. It would have been nice to have the ability to access these things from within the game.
Slap Village Chapter One: Reality Slap can be completed in four or five hours. Some might feel the asking price of $14.99 is a little steep for a game of such short duration, but developer MonkeyTunes is looking to raise sufficient revenue to complete the second and third chapters.
Should this not be possible, Reality Slap — while open-ended — doesn’t strand the player with a bunch of loose ends. All plot points are tied up neatly.
Before Lurditas rides off into the sunset, she’s told a big change is coming, that she’s right in the middle of it and that there’s a lot for her to do. (For now, what that means is up to your imagination.)
It’s my hope that MonkeyTunes will succeed in continuing the story of Slap Vilage. The whimsy and charm of Reality Slap won me over despite its rough spots. Not only did I have fun playing it, it left me wanting more.
+ Imaginative story with abundant humor + Colorful cartoon style + Likable protagonist – Short duration – Awkward dialogue – Save system doesn’t always work |  |
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 compatible
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