So, last night my life took a very weird turn. It started when a blow to my cranium gave me psychic powers. Then things got worse as I was framed for murder, and it all came to a head when I had to escape from the cops disguised as an opera singer. Now, if you’re confused by my bizarre shenanigans, let me stop and answer any immediate questions that might be crossing your befuddled brain. My actions were not part of a dream bought on by consuming a hearty cheese-laden meal before falling asleep. Nor do I reside in a rubber room and wear a jacket that does up at the back. The much more pleasant explanation of these surreal encounters is that I was playing Stick it to The Man, a brilliantly bonkers new title from Ripstone and Zoink Games. Let me tell you all about it.
Stick it to The Man is Ripstone and Zoink’s incredibly odd platform-puzzler, which is available as part of the cross-buy initiative on PlayStation 3 and Vita. It’s a superb surreal game that features some of the funniest and weirdest gaming ideas I’ve ever come across. Bear with me, as I try to explain what it’s all about.
Stick it to The Man sees you take on the role of a hapless chap named Ray, who one day is struck on the head by a mysterious object that grants him psychic powers. These powers manifest in the form of a giant pink spaghetti arm that sticks out of Ray’s head, and which only he can see. Ray’s weirdly augmented brain now means he can read people’s minds, then – if chooses to – he can literally steal the thoughts he finds and use them to help him solve the mystery behind his bizarre accident.
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The secret to Ray’s new-found powers is locked behind a series of levels that the player needs to progress through by solving a variety of puzzles; these are usually in the form of an NPC who has a dilemma that needs resolving. To get an idea of what the solution is, Ray must read their mind then attempt to fix the issue by romping round the level’s platforms looking for answers, or literally peeling the NPCs thoughts away and then finding a use for them. The levels themselves come in all shapes and sizes and players will find themselves trapped in a lunatic asylum, travelling through Ray’s childhood, and escaping from a secret government base. All of these are uniquely designed in the style of a 2D paper world, which is a clever touch that allows Ray to tear at the background to find help, and treat any thoughts that are collected as stickers, which can be stuck on NPCs or the backdrop of the level to try to solve puzzles. As this is a 2D paper world, if you die then Ray will use one of the photocopying machines littered around the levels to reprint himself back into reality.
Immediately noticeable as you play Stick it to The Man is the game’s marvelous twisted sense of humor, which when coupled with puzzles that, while intuitive, border on the surreal, are some of the most marvelously twisted ideas ever to grace the PS3. Let me give you a quick example. To escape a lunatic asylum you need to convince an insane whaler to let you turn the corpse of his recent catch into a hot air balloon. Once he agrees you then need to rescue a taxidermist and hyperventilating ex-circus performer to help you. Crazy ideas like this litter the game and nothing is straightforward in Ray’s quest, but the oddity of the puzzles nicely raise the game play of Stick it to The Man above other more standard platform puzzlers.
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All of Stick it to The Man’s fabulous insanity plays out on the screen in lush 2D graphics that remind me of the artistic style of Gorillaz and Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett. Ray’s wacky paper world is brought to life in a marvellously deranged style that really suits the game’s theme, with use of colour handled well by employing a vibrant palette when inside Ray’s brain, which is then starkly contrasted by dark broody colours that decorate the real world. To further bring these levels to life, Ripstone and Zoink have populated Stick it to The Man with some of the most bizarre looking NPCs, all animated in a quirky paper cut-out style with great voice work. The final cherry on the cake of Stick it to The Man’s top-notch production values is the music. The game opens with the Kenny Roger’s drug anthem Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) and then once the action starts players will find each level has an excellent theme, which is replaced by another catchy tune if Ray finds himself being chased. All of Stick it to The Man’s design elements smack of high production values, and when they are all combined they engage the player immediately in this well designed and gorgeous looking gaming world.
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A gorgeous looking game world is of no use though if the player can’t explore it easily and guiding Stick it to The Man’s Ray on his adventures is not only about exploring, but also involves controlling a giant pink spaghetti arm that reads minds. Now you might think because of these multiple elements Stick it to The Man might be difficult to play? Well, luckily that’s not the case as Ripstone and Zoink have given the title a simple yet effective control system. Ray can be moved around with the left stick, and a simple button push will see him jump. The right stick controls your mind reading arm and this allows you to: reach into people’s thoughts, peel away their thought stickers, reattach said stickers to other people, reach up to grab high ledges or pull away the paper backdrop to reveal hidden surprises. I had no problems maneuvering Ray, and found use of the psychic arm came easily, and never disrupted the flow of the game.
I enjoyed every moment of Stick it to the Man; it’s a game that shines due to its superbly surreal plot, gorgeous graphics and twisted puzzles. There aren’t many games that can make me laugh out loud, but the developers have infested this title with a brilliant vein of dark humour that often had me having to pause and wipe away tears of laughter. The game’s hero Ray, unlike a lot of AAA title’s protagonists, has a personality and his confused commentary on how he feels warms your heart to his trials and tribulations making you want to help him get his sanity back. Stick it to The Man oozes brilliance, and has a professional polish to every aspect of the game that many major companies might do well to study and learn from.
The only minor flaws I could find with Stick it to The Man, is firstly that I felt my wonderful adventure ended too soon. However, because I don’t want to spoil how long the game is I won’t say more than that I just felt a couple more levels might have rounded the game off better. My other minor quibble is when I finished the game I didn’t get a completion trophy. The reason for this is that the game’s trophies are mostly awarded for finding certain secrets in the levels, which gives replay value but I still feel completion trophies would have been a better addition.
However, neither of these two minor flaws detracted from the sheer fun I had playing Stick it to The Man. If you want a hearty portion of madcap insanity as you platform and puzzle your way around a superbly deranged world, then this really is the game for you.