The script underpins the comedy, with a story that acknowledges the lunacy of its premise yet still builds to a genuinely heartwarming tale of acceptance and loyalty against all odds. It's not just broad physical humour either. He's a wonderfully appealing character too, conveying pathos and whimsy with just a blink of his enormous eyes and a twitch of his wibbling "moustache". Octodad most certainly "moves funny" and there's tangible pleasure in just stretching and slurping him around the environment, knocking objects flying thanks to the largely impeccable physics. "You ever watch an old cartoon and just laugh because they move funny?" he said.
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Many years ago, I interviewed John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren & Stimpy, and he lamented the fact that - at the time - too many TV cartoons were lifeless to watch. Such stages provide an invigorating slapstick sandbox, allowing you to wreak havoc in mundane places, and are an absolute joy to explore. The rest of the family is richly written, and their obliviousness to Octodad's true nature results in some great gags. If you get tired of finding groceries you can always enjoy the many indie game in-jokes hidden in the scenery - a special offer on The Stanley Pair O' Bowls is particularly brilliant - or just take a spin on a children's motorised rocket ship and watch Octodad's elastic body twang itself into pretzel shapes as he hangs on for dear life. You have a shopping list of items to find, and must navigate broken freezer cabinets, banana-skin strewn floors and a rival shopper intent on grabbing the last box of cereal to get them all. Arguably the game's strongest section takes place in a supermarket, where events play out more like an adventure game.
In the earliest of the game's scenarios, the balance between comedy and gameplay is nicely judged. He tends to pop up at the end of each chapter, triggering an action-packed pursuit or boss fight. Let them get too high, and your rather inept cover is blown in a shower of shameful ink.Ĭomplicating matters further is an obsessed sushi chef who stalks Octodad at every turn, desperate to reveal his secret to the world. Behave too bizarrely and suspicions will start to rise. Whenever you're around other people, dotted sightlines will show you when your actions are drawing attention. The only limitation comes from Octodad's desire to keep his cephalopod nature secret from everyone around him. He's never graceful, but that doesn't really matter: the havoc created by your wobbling movements is all part of the fun, as the game conspires to place Octodad in situations where delicacy is required or in environments filled with precariously balanced objects.
Octodad's wedding day is used as the tutorial stage, and makes for a fine introduction to the game. By changing the length of his stride, you can make him shuffle daintily or break into a lolloping, rubbery sprint. Walking is trickier, with each "leg" needing to be dragged into position before the other one will move. You can move Octodad's right "arm" horizontally as well as up and down, while a button press makes it grab nearby items - handily identified with a glowing green sheen. It takes some practice, but Octodad's seemingly random flailings can actually be directed with a reasonable degree of accuracy most of the time.Ĭontrol is intuitive enough, particularly if you're using a controller rather than keyboard and mouse. It's a conceit that puts the game in the same bracket as other interactive slapstick comedies such as QWOP, Incredipede and Surgeon Simulator, but Octodad is never as punishingly difficult as those games. That's the joke, and gameplay, of Octodad: Dadliest Catch in one simple nutshell: ordinary tasks made hilarious by virtue of your barely-controllable tentacles.
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Marshalling your undulating, boneless tentacles to open the shed door is a trial in itself, let alone extracting the mower and directing it safely along the ground without smacking your sweetly oblivious wife in the face with it. It's less easy, however, when you're an octopus in a suit, masquerading as a suburban dad. I just need to get the lawnmower out of the shed, and push it over some rather obviously highlighted tufts of grass. This is not, in theory, the toughest challenge I've ever faced. Octodad's interactive slapstick is a joy to behold, but the game struggles to sustain itself.
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