Review for Repella Fella
The apocalypse is no laughing matter -- except while playing Misadventurous' Repella Fella. This game, published by 2 Left Thumbs, features zany cartoon graphics, smooth animation, and excellent voice acting to tell the story of a lone exterminator navigating through dystopian Australia. Repella Fella features violence in its storyline, but it also has comically amusing graphics that provide plenty of humorous moments. Some players may find it lacking in interactivity, yet overall, the game feels like an interactive Looney Tunes cartoon, and I enjoyed playing it.
The graphics have a comical radiance that brightens everything. The character models are hilariously drawn, with heads that are too big for their bodies. The combination of humorous characters and smooth animation often made me laugh, and the character models fit the backgrounds like a glove. Brightly colored and attractive, the visuals are reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon show. Taken together, they plant humorous seeds throughout the story that balance its tendency toward violence. For example, during one playthrough, I placed dynamite in a large monster's rear end, causing it to explode and scatter meat and cartoonish monster parts everywhere. The whimsical aesthetic of the game reminded me of the way Looney Toons tones down the violence of Elmer Fudd's attacks on Bugs Bunny. (In addition to the violence, this game incorporates a small amount of sexual content.)
Repella Fella boasts exceptional sound design and voice acting. All the characters' emotions are well portrayed, so much so that I couldn’t pick a favorite. I often found myself humming along to “Waltzing Matilda” while playing. There is a streamer mode to turn off music while streaming gameplay.
The sound design, graphics, animation and character models are the sinews that tie this world together. It's a chaotic place that cries out to be controlled. To guide the protagonist, players use a third-person point-and-click interface along with keyboard shortcuts. Moving the main character is simple – just press the left mouse button or use the A and D keys on the keyboard to move left or right. Additionally, players may click on characters to activate a chat list where they can learn more about the story and enjoy the entertaining narrative. Besides movement, the keys I used most often were Shift for running and Alt for activating the hotspot indicator. The hotspots are differentiated by color; blue tells you more about the world and yellow gives you hints about moving through the story. Clicking on the keyboard tab in the settings menu brings up a full list of shortcuts; these can be changed if desired. The accessible interface makes it easy as pie for players to lose themselves in this thrilling story.
While on the job, Repella Fella, an Australian exterminator extraordinaire, is caught in an attack and ends up being trapped in a time capsule for fifteen years. Throughout this interval, depending on the player's choice, he can enhance either his strength or intelligence. Choosing strength means that he can lift heavy objects and punch forcefully. Intelligence gives him insight into his inner self through conversations with a devil and an angel on his shoulder. I chose strength. After Repella Fella emerges from the time capsule, he finds that while he was trapped, Australia was invaded. As a result, he must adapt to his new environment. Your assistance will be crucial in ensuring his success.
Progress depends on your choices, but this game has minimal interactivity. It consists of clicking on a hotspot which presents you with a series of options, selecting them with the mouse, and then watching the results. If an inventory item can be used, it will be one of the choices. Some decisions can result in death. Should the worst occur, the character will be resurrected so that a different decision can be made.
After the player makes choices, the characters usually do not require any further assistance, except for two instances. The first instance is when the player needs to pick locks. This requires moving the mouse left and right and using the left button to push up parts of the mechanism until the lock opens. However, the specific order in which the parts need to be pushed is unclear and can be frustrating. I was lucky to succeed in picking the lock and was relieved that it was not timed.
Hacking electronics was more frustrating than lock picking because it was a timed memory game. Successfully hacking computers, or other machines, requires matching colored symbols in a specific order before time runs out. I always failed. Fortunately there were alternative ways to accomplish tasks besides using machines.
Repella Fella features beautiful visuals and sound design tied with a simple interface to peripherally involve the player in a thrilling, though violent story. Different players may have varying opinions about its level of interactivity. Personally, I found it quite engaging.
