izigame.me

A substandard buggy disaster of a platformer

I am what you may call a 3D platformer connoisseur. I've played just about every 3D platformer on Steam and I am always on the look out for a new one to play. Which sadly new 3D platformers don't come often. With that being said, Scrat's Nutty Adventure happens to be one of the few 3D platformers on Steam that I hadn't played yet. It looked decent enough from the trailers and screenshots and I was also a big fan of the first two Ice Age movies as a kid so I thought what could go wrong here? Boy was I in for a treat. What I thought could have been a serviceable enough experience ended up being one of the buggiest messes I have ever played when it comes to platformers.
The Cockaroach Infestation (BUGS)
This game has so many game breaking bugs it is absolutely laughable. When simply doing a standard platforming mechanic like the jump smash bugs out nearly everytime you use it you know the game had absolutely no quality assurance testing. Almost everytime I used this move I got locked/stuck in the animation where the only way I could get out of it was either by dying or restating the level. So I just ended up not using the damn move for almost the whole game unless I absolutely had to. Just as bad if not worse is the the bug I randomly started getting near the end of the game that would literally hard lock my game everytime I picked up a collectible by getting me stuck in place without being able to move. The only way I found to get out of this was to exit to the main menu. I encountered this bug like 4 times in a row then it randomly stopped happening. There really is no rhyme or reason for when this game wants to work I guess. Also I can't not mention the phantom audio bug that will literally annoy you to death. There is a "special ability" you get towards the end of the game that makes a high pitched ringing noise when ever you use it. But heaven forbid the game actually works and you only hear it while actually only using the ability. You will hear this mind numbingly annoying ringing endlessly even long after you stop using the ability. Don't know what having Tinnitus is like? Well this game will let you know what it feels like. There are countless other bugs I can rant about here but I can't be here all day people.
The subpar gameplay
I'll be brief here as the bugs alone are reasons enough for you to avoid this game like your mother in law. The camera is horrible and I found myself constantly fighting it throughout my playthrough. Simple standard platforming moves like the double jump are locked away from you for large portions of the game as "special abilities" making the game feel awful. Combat is a button spam mess and is as deep as a kiddy pool. You can't use your whole moveset like the jump smash or your game will bug out.
Conclusion
I am not sure what I was expecting from a licensed game from a dead franchise but whatever I thought I would get wasn't half as bad as this. Even without all the bugs the game is sub par at best. With the bugs it is worse than pineapple on pizza. I really hope no parent mistakenly buys this disaster for their kid. As doing so is child abuse and may result in Child Protective Services taking away your kid.