Review: World Gone Sour

Posted by Curtis H on April 11th, 2012 | 2 Comments | Tags: World Gone Sour

Mixing Method Man, Sour Patch Kids and Creed Bratton is probably one of the craziest combinations I’ve seen in quite some time. Heck the World Gone Sour music video still blows my mind. How this game came to be is probably a mystery we’ll never truly solve but I’m really happy it happened. Despite some low expectations when the game was first announced, World Gone Sour has turned out to be a really solid platformer.

The main menu works well to set the tone for the rest of the game. With one Sour Patch Kid running out into view as another comes from behind and continuously stabs him in the back. Or in another instance where a kid comes running as he screams “No!” with a disembodied head in his arms. World Gone Sour is rather dark and in certain areas shockingly so.

As you start-up a new game Creed Bratton, you’ll likely recognize him from The Office (US), fills you in on the life of candy. It is the goal of every type of candy to one day reach the stomach of a human. It’s all about reaching Candy Heaven and so when you and your friend are separated from the pack things start to turn dark. You set out to find your way into the mouth of a human while your friend turns evil and begins attacking you. Thus it’s up to you to set things right and ensure that you both reach the bottom of someone’s stomach.

World Gone Sour takes you through three acts of linear platforming stages. Each level has you jumping over spike pits, swinging from hooks, jumping from trampolines, as well as featuring all sorts of obstacles that you’ve come to expect from a platforming game. The jumping feels a little floaty, and the double jump takes a little getting used to, but ultimately the controls never really gave me much trouble. There was maybe one or two moments throughout the entire game where I would have liked things to be a little more precise but it’s not a deal breaker. What differentiates World Gone Sour however is the way in which you’ll interact with fellow Sour Patch Kids. Each level has 25 Kids that’ll join you on your adventure. You’ll throw these Kids at switches and absorb them to solve certain puzzles and continue throughout each stage. The puzzles never get difficult but I still found myself just having a good time using my abilities to progress.

World Gone Sour is a very simple game. It’s easy to get through each level, dying is hardly ever punishing since there are plenty of check points and the majority of bosses tend to be push overs. That might sound like a negative but the game has a knack for just putting a smile on your face. Better yet World Gone Sour makes death fun. Each stage has multiple ways to die. By fire, saw, spikes, mouse traps etc. And with that comes the ability to sacrifice your fellow Sour Patch Kids in order to unlock all methods of death throughout each stage. As dark as this sounds it’s oddly fun to throw your followers in spinning saw blades or into pits of fire. Watching a follower melt on a stove burner while my character let out a laugh as he held his belly sent me into a fit of laughter.

A second player can join in drop-in/drop-out couch co-op but there’s no option for any online co-op. With a second player you’ll simply have to share the followers that you find. The camera will automatically adjust if players get too far apart to ensure that you both fit on the screen. I’m a little bummed out that there’s no online co-op but local only works well enough.

Gameplay aside it’s clear that a lot of effort went into World Gone Sour. Most notably is the movie theater/concession stand stages in Act One. These stages are designed as if you’re running across the tops of boxes of candy, sliding down straws and jumping over empty soda cups. There’s a lot of detail in each act that help to really bring things to life. You feel like a Sour Patch Kid in a world that’s much larger than you. The icing on the cake is the handful of fake candy that the developers have come up with for this game. (Pus Poppers, Choco Bacon, Holey Molars, What The Fudge, Kinky Whip Liquorice)

World Gone Sour will likely take around five hours to complete and perhaps even longer if you go back for all of the collectibles in the game. While it’s not a challenging platformer in the least the game provided me with a really enjoyable experience and some good laughs along the way. Creed Bratton does a great job narrating throughout the game and that Method Man music video really is something to behold. Pricing it at five dollars makes this a no brainer. World Gone Sour is a really solid platformer and shouldn’t be overlooked.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

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