Video Game Review: Exception

Exception

Traxmaster Software

Platformer

Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Exception is a 2D side-scrolling platformer game where you take the role of a combat robot fighting their way through a computer system, taken over by a virus. Not a vastly efficient computer though – no, this is just a regular everyday computer owned by a little old lady who accidentally downloaded a virus. You battle through multiple levels, through sixteen chapters which get progressively harder and more intricate the further in you get.

The controls are fairly simple which to the game’s benefit when the difficulty level starts to spike – mostly all you’ll be doing is jumping, moving and attacking but the game world is designed in such a way that even these simple actions have a surprising amount of strategy involved. The music and visuals in Exception are it’s the strongest feature – a soundtrack of synth-wave perfectly matches up with the colourful neon science-fiction world. It feels more retro in style, taking more influence from Tron then more modern science-fiction worlds. And that’s not a criticism, it works really well and creates a constantly changing world which is visually stunning and exciting to explore.

The gameplay itself is surprisingly fun and addictive platformers aren’t really games I play too often and I tend to get frustrated by them easily but Exception kept me coming back. I hit a few bugs here and there which booted me out of the game in certain places but thankfully these were few and far between and will hopefully be patched out upon release. The game starts off deceptively easy giving you a good handle on the controls before it starts introducing more obstacles, more difficult mazes to work through and bosses which can easily turn your little robot soldier into cogs and wires. At the end of a level, your score is tallied from your speed of completion and other things such as how many enemies killed and how long you hugged onto a wall for – making it surprisingly hard to get a perfect score. For the competitive types out there, there are online leader-boards too will likely keep players coming back to try and beat their score.

The story is perhaps one of the weaker areas of the game, however, told through mini comic-book style cutscenes every time you complete a chapter. While this style does suit the retro science-fiction aesthetic of the game, the robots seen are very lacking in character – perhaps this is purposefully so to help keep their mechanical origins present. But this works against them as likable characters as they lack the very humanity which would make a player sympathise with their plight. We are told over the course of the game exactly what happened to the computer when the virus hit it, presented as a dictator taking over and controlling the system. It’s a really interesting concept and could have been really compelling but unfortunately, the characters are not developed enough to be truly memorable. It gives context to the gameplay and why you’re pushing through the levels, but that’s about it.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this game – I had a blast with it and was easily able to sink hours into it without even realising. It’ll definitely be one I come back to, despite its flaws. The levels are short enough (most could be completed in a minute or two), that it’s the perfect game to pick up and put down again when you have a little spare time but long enough in terms of actual game length to make it worth the money. If you’re a fan of platformers or just quirky sci-fi games in general, this is definitely one to keep an eye out for!