Super Cloudbuilt PlayStation 4 Review: Built To Last

For those of you that think that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Triliogy is a challenging platformer…that’s cute. The developers at Coilworks have come up with a new game that’s sure to run you through your paces and make Vicarious Visions’ old-school tribute look like a walk in the park. Prepare to be driven up the walls by Super Cloudbuilt, a game that will test your nerves – but in one of the most awesome ways possible.

The game revolves around Demi, a young soldier who finds herself in sort of a spirit form as she runs through a desolated world, trying to find her way back to her physical body. She’s able to find areas where she can test her mettle and slowly try to piece herself back together – but, as you can tell by the paragraph above, it’s a job that’s easier said than done.

It’ll take a little bit to get used to Super Cloudbuilt‘s style of play. Your character moves at a pretty rapid pace, and uses parkour to get around, whether it’s running up walls or grabbing onto ledges. So, combining speed with agility is not an easy task, as it took me a few tries to get through certain levels in the beginning before I eventually figured out how that works.

Up In The Air

And that’s just the beginning. Once you jump into Cloudbuilt’s virtual worlds, things move up quite a few notches. You’re given a rocket booster pack that will help you get around, but, as you might guess, it’s a bit on the limited side. You only have so much boost power to continue running alongside walls and jumping, and once you run out, well, unless you have a ledge to land on, you’re pretty much falling into an empty abyss. It’s a matter of crackerjack timing, and we’ll be honest – you’re probably going to “die” in this game quite a bit.

But that’s part of Double Eleven’s design, and while frustration is likely to set in with Super Cloudbuilt, it’s all a part of the learning process. Plus, the game actually gets kind of fun, provided it doesn’t grate on your nerves. The gameplay, while a bit tricky to learn, operates very well, and lets you feel like a bad-ass as you jet across platforms, parkour along walls and blast enemies to kingdom come with your weaponry. On top of that, it’s built with an old-school frame of mind, with hidden out of the way goodies, like keycards that, when completely collected, allow you to earn an extra life – which you’ll need.

There are also additional challenges that you can unlock in the game, but, hey, maybe work on surviving the level first before you go back and try those. On the bright side, there is a neat ability that you can use in the game where you can create your own checkpoint – provided you have the marker for it. This will save a world of frustration in parts of the game, so you don’t have to run through areas all over again if you barely got through them. And considering the game’s intricate, non-linear design, you’ll need these.

Prepare For An Awesome Platforming Challenge

Oh, and did I mention there are leaderboards? These are one of the best elements you’ll find in Super Cloudbuilt, mainly because you’ll want to see if you can better the times of some of these ace players. Most of the time, you won’t, probably, but “get gud” enough and, who knows, you just might become the master of your terrain. Maybe.

Cloudbuilt also has a pretty good story that goes along with the action, but I would’ve liked a few more things to be fleshed out with Demi and the enemy forces that are coming after her. The whole existential spirit idea is pretty neat, but I would’ve liked to have seen that more built upon.

At least the presentation has its heart in the right place. Double Eleven’s level design is wicked cool, and the frame rate moves speedily enough that you won’t lose pacing in the game. I also enjoyed some of the voicework and the old-school tunes that played throughout the game. They aren’t Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy good, but they don’t need to be.

No, Super Cloudbuilt doesn’t relate to Dark Souls, even though it’s quite difficult. Instead, I think it panders back to the classic platforming games that we grew up with, the ones where we struggled to reach a checkpoint and tried to complete a level 100 percent. It definitely has that spirit in tow, and while everything doesn’t truly mesh to perfection – especially as far as newbies are concerned – it’s a challenge that players shouldn’t miss out on.

RATING: Four stars out of five.

Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.