The PS Vita is a machine that had a lot of interesting concepts and ideas. For a lot of reasons most of you know, it is a console that failed to meet the expectations of Sony. Now it feels like it’s on life support thanks to the Indie developers. This isn’t a bad thing in itself because if you come to peace with the fact that you won’t be seeing more AAA releases, you can still enjoy it, and that is what’s really important. We have another game published by Ratalaika Games, and Ratalaika is one of the few publishers that continue to support the Vita. Iron Snout is a game about a Pig’s battle against the wolves, and let me tell you, this Pig got the moves to make Bruce Lee proud.
The gameplay objective of Iron Snout is a simple one: You play as a Pig that stands in the middle of the screen; you need to repel hordes of wolves that come from all sides. What I like about is that even if the enemies are wolves they come in different disguises and have different attacks, some come to like the granny in the above pick and attacks with the basket and others riding are rocked. Some are coming like a wrecking ball (and look a lot better than that famous singer). This is something I like because it adds variety to the game, even if all you do is wait there for them to get on your range of attack. As a master of Pig martial arts, you can use everything on your power to stop them.
The control scheme is simple. You can either use the D-Pad or the X Square O and Triangle buttons to attack. Depending on which button you press, that will be the direction the attack goes. You can do crouching attacks jumping (Shoryuken pig style) attacks and also use the weapons the wolves use to attack you. This opens some interesting and frenetic combos because its a fight for survival across the three different levels that you can unlock.
I like how colorful the game is, and the little details like the wolves, clothes, or weapons, breathes life to the game–the blood particularly and how your health gauge is made of small bacon strips. The three modes the game has can keep you coming back for more. However, the game loses its appeal quickly. There are no online leaderboards for bragging rights. While the game fits the norm of Ratalaika of an easy platinum, after all has been done, you have no reason to go back to the game unless to improve your high score.
Bottom Line: Iron Snout is a fun but albeit short game. There is a platinum to boot, so trophy hunters would be right in their alley with it. I personally liked it, so if you are a gamer on a budget this game is for you. It’s fun and challenging, but like I said, it feels a little on the short side.
A Review code was provided for this review.