Anticipation is everything in the gaming community, which is what fans of the newly released game “Cuphead” can tell you. Waiting is part of the game, since it’s an entire experience in itself, but getting your hands on the final product, nothing compares. Ever since the announcement of Studio MDHR game back in 2014, “Cuphead” seemed overly confident in engaging gamers in a bold and mesmerizing world that took the nostalgia and love for the 1930s carton era and crafting a one of a kind gaming experience. To say the least the three years, since the game has been announced, has been ever worth the wait, in an almost flawless gaming experience.
The story of “Cuphead” can easily itself drag anyone in, its simple but yet so out there that it just works. Players engage themselves in the fantastic world of Inkwell Isle, where the main characters Cuphead and Mugman, lose a game of cards to the devil. In return not to be killed, cupped and magma are forced to collect the debt that others owe to the Devil, but more importantly destroy them. in the games menu, players can be told the plot through a quick song, that rhymes and rings with all sorts of bells and whistles.
“Cuphead” is a run and gun shooter game with a mix of platforming elements. Players take control of the main character Cuphead as they engage in short levels of complete chaos. The objective, try to get to the end of the level, beat the boss, or just destroy anything that is moving on screen without dying. This strategy seems familiar since it doesn’t seem to stray from the ubiquitous formula. Though the difference in “Cuphead” is its insane difficulty and mastering. The game doesn’t hold your hand at all and encourages players to replay over and over until perfection. This may throw some gamers off, but each experience is new, and the artificial intelligence of the different enemies always manages to become more difficult and even highly surprising, as no two playthroughs are even merely alike. There isn’t really a strategy to it, and that can be hard, but that’s what makes Cuphead so unique. It’s hard and it will take time to master, but the feeling of beating a level after so many tries, is so empowering and joyful that it demands to be played again and again.
Cuphead main selling point is its difficulty, its art direction. The game is by far the most beautiful video game of its generation, its wildly detailed, and the character models and the settings are finely tuned. Everything about the world looks like it’s from the 1930s and the art makes it so appealing, that at times, you can’t help and lose a life just to spend time looking off into the abyss of glorified artistry, it truly is riveting. From the moment “Cuphead” loads up on screen, to the widely funky 1930s music, it is goofy, engaging and entertaining.
“Cuphead” unfortunately can’t be fully praised, since its release on only the Xbox One and PC give it a limited gaming audience. It suffers from being occasional loading times and some frame rate dips on the Xbox One, but besides that there isn’t anything that should stop you from playing this bold game. Cuphead, comes out at a time in the video game season, where it will definitely get a good deal of attention, since the fall season doesn’t seem to be full of too many games at the moment. So stop what you’re doing, get a friend and get “Cuphead.” As there is so much to be enjoyed in this game.
