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Before we get started I want to make a disclaimer. Just because I am going to be pointing the issues and major problems with Clive ‘n’ Wrench, I do NOT hold any ill-will towards the indie developer who made this game. The reason is that unless someone has done something bad or immoral, I am always willing to give indie devs the benefit of the doubt as I side with indie devs more than AAA nowadays. Also, much like with my Penny’s Big Breakaway review, I will be leaving out the “Story” segment in this review because most games, especially platformers, don’t need an in-depth story unless it’s an RPG. So, with that being said, let’s get started.
Presentation
The presentation is a bit of a mixed bag. Aesthetically, I really enjoyed the environments in the game with my three favorites being the swamp, Christmas ice age, and medieval worlds. In my opinion, I really enjoyed the music in the levels as I think they fit greatly into the worlds you will be playing in. The boss fight soundtrack, while a bit cheesy really sets the mood from time-to-time. However, we need to talk about the textures. I know I said I like the environments aesthetically but when looking at the textures closely, they can look a bit muddy depending on your perspective. Now, we have to talk about the character models. I don’t want to sound harsh here, but they look a bit goofy. What I mean by them being goofy I mean the fur textures and the stiff animation. Now I am going to give the animation a pass since I know the dev was working on this by himself. As someone who loves animation and does digital art and graphic design as a hobby, I should tell you it’s tough and really time-consuming, especially with how expensive it can be. I know this is a minor nitpick but when I look at the 2D promotional artwork for Clive ‘n’ Wrench, I would kill for a cartoon cel-shaded art style. But that is just my personal preference, and I don’t want to discourage the work of Dinosaur Bytes Studios. By the way, this game was made in Unity. I know this because when I booted up the Steam version, I was met with a Unity splash screen showing the logo and the logo “Numbskull Games,” the game’s publisher. I know this is also a minor nitpick but there really should have been a way to get rid of it.
Presentation: 6/10
Gameplay
Before talking about the negatives, I want to be pogative. Pogative is a word I completely made up, which is a mixture of both positive and negative. I want to discuss my two favorite enemies, the crocodiles/alligators (I don’t know what they are so feel free to tell me what they are), and anglerfish-looking pirates. I like not only their whacky designs, but also the fact their models will glitch and bug out like they are a Looney Tunes character before dropping dead and glitching through the ground. I know this is a bad thing but it’s pretty funny looking back on it. I hope that gets patched though but only time will tell.
Okay, back to reality. So, like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, or Battle for Bikini Bottom, Clive ‘n’ Wrench plays like a 3D collect-a-thon platformer. You jump, double jump, do a spin attack Crash Bandicoot style, swim above and underwater, ground pound, sprint, sprint jump, crouch jump, and use Wrench as a propeller to hover in the air like you’re Rayman or Ratchet and Clank. The swimming in this game is pretty bad. The controls while not too bad don’t really do you any favors. It’ll take time to get used to them, but you better do it quick because Clive and Wrench have some pretty weak lungs as their air will run out faster than Mario or Banjo’s. Okay look, I know people have said the combat in this game is lackluster, but this is not a fighting, beat em’ up, or hack ‘n’ slash game; this is a platforming game, first and foremost. You will fight enemies as you explore but they pose little threat whatsoever as you can just smack them around with Wrench. By the way, when they die, the demon imps will poof away but the level-based enemies. So, I was wrong, this is Banjo-Crash’s Bad Fur Day here.
Throughout the game you will be collecting Ancient Stones, this game’s version of Power Stars, Jiggies, and Golden Spatulas. There are 110 in total; not 100 or 120, just 110. Now you might think it’s not a big deal but when you actually play the levels, the stones can be hidden in sometimes obscure or cryptic places. It also doesn’t help that these levels are massive. Yes, you could argue that SM64 and Kazooie had big levels too but here’s the thing, those games struck a good balance between having the collectable challenging, but also fun to obtain. Here, I got so confused by what I was doing wrong, I had to look up a walkthrough in order to even 100% this game. In addition to the stones, you will be collecting stop watches. However, unlike SM64 or Banjo which require 100 coins or music notes, the total stop watches for each world will sometimes range 800-1000. Don’t get me wrong, I love collecting items in games, especially platformers, but there is such a thing as too much. I’m not asking for a whole lot here, but I wish that the devs would trim the amount down to just 100 at the very least.
The boss fights in this game, they’re pretty bad. They can sometimes range from awkward, to frustrating, to almost non-existent. Most of the time, you won’t even fight the boss but instead be treated to a running segment or just a plain cutscene. Now I know I hate spoiling games/movies, but I need to call this out. If you have not played this game yet, please exit and go the play the game now so that I don’t ruin the experience for you. As you get to the final boss, there are three phases you have to do with two phases being just normal jumping and dodging. In phase two, however, you are treated to an airplane dog fight in the likes of Star Fox or Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. The problem, however, is that you are never given a tutorial for this airplane section, and you are forced to see and learn what button does what on the screen. By the way, when you get hit by an enemy or hazard, there are no invincibility frames, so you better pray that you don’t get comboed by hordes of enemies.
Right off the bat, this game is littered with bugs and glitches. I hope most of these problems have been ironed out, but I still found myself stuck in Clive’s falling and ground pound animations. If you can overcome these obstacles, more power to you but I’d much rather wait for these issues to be taken care of first.
Gameplay: 3/10
Performance
When playing on the Steam Deck, the performance was fine for the most part but as you get into the later levels, the framerate will start to dip a bit. While not too bad on PC, it is bad on the Switch and PS4/PS5. By the way, there is pop-in everywhere. What I am assuming happened is that the devs must have used some type code to try and load in every piece of geometry at once but the game for some reason will only load in the assets when you are just a few inches away. The pop-in, while not bad, can be distracting at points. The loading times were not too bad though, only a few seconds.
Performance: 6/10
Love/Tolerate?
Do you want to know what the saddest part in making this review is? I really wanted to like this game as platformers are what I love the most, next to RPGs. However, due to the bugs and other issues the game has, I was more disappointed than anything else. I hold nothing against the developer who made this. Let me make it clear, making games is hard, really hard. It takes time, learning, and resources. I mean I am learning to make games and I am even struggling learning these things. So, while I will support the dev going forward, I think I’ll stick to playing SM64 or Kazooie for now. Dinosaur Bytes, I wish you the best. I hope to see what other projects you have in store for us. Keep up the good work guys.
Tolerate: 15/30
Fun Fact: Did you know that Clive made a cameo as a hat for Renata in Frogun?