Caveman Warriors

There used to be a time when gamers were infatuated with cavemen and all things prehistoric. The store shelves were filled with multiple versions of Chuck Rock, Bonk, Joe & Mac and Caveman Games. Lately it seems that these loveable Neanderthals have gone out of style, completely passed over in favor of medieval knights and badass army men. But that draught may be coming to an end; because today we're taking a look at Caveman Warriors, a brand new multiplayer action game that evokes the spirit of old platformers like Big Nose and Prehistorik 2.

This is the story of what happens when aliens invade a quiet village and kidnap a bunch of toddlers. This obviously angers the townsfolk, forcing a group of four brave warriors to run, jump and fight their way through the hostile prehistoric environments to save the kids and kick alien butt. Somebody has to teach these space jerks a lesson.

The developers are quick to point out that Caveman Warriors is inspired by games like Joe & Mac, Metal Slug, Castle Crashers, Trine and New Super Mario Bros., and it shows. The idea is to choose from one of four characters and battle your way through a bunch of fairly straight-forward 2D stages. You'll have to club enemies, jump over bottomless pits, avoid spikes, pick up items and fight powerful boss creatures. And before you ask, yes, there is a defacto 'mine cart' stage where you shoot at a Terminator wannabe.

While Caveman Warriors was designed as a four-player party game, it's actually a lot easier to play by yourself. Instead of being locked in as only one character, we're able to switch between the four cave-people on the fly. What I like is that they are all a little different. There's Jack, a noble smasher with a powerful axe; Liliana, who has a spear that can be thrown for long-range attacks; Moe, a shaman with a boomerang; and Brienne, a tall and beautiful woman that fights with a giant piece of meat.

It's nice that these four characters aren't just carbon copies of each other. You'll occasionally run into obstacles that only one of the warriors can overcome, such as walls that require Liliana to throw a spear to give the crew an extra step. You'll also find that certain heroes are better for beating bosses than others, so you'll constantly be switching back and forth between the different characters. This is handled well and is one of the things that sets it apart from all the other caveman games.

Unfortunately, the level designs simply aren't as interesting as these four characters. The stages are split into several lengthy sections, each separated by a checkpoint that refills your health and lives. The problem is that if you die four times before reaching the next checkpoint, you'll have to start the level over from the very beginning. This is especially annoying when learning how to defeat the individual bosses. If you don't memorize the pattern quickly enough, you'll have to spend another fifteen minutes working your way back to the boss. That sucks.

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It doesn't help that the obstacles aren't very creative. Caveman Warriors covers a lot of familiar ground, especially when it comes to the platforming puzzles. There are moments when the game flirts with originality, but those are quickly stamped down in favor of the usual conveyer belts and floating platforms. It would have been nice to see the developers find opportunities for using each character's special abilities in more inventive ways.

That said, the action in Caveman Warriors is fast and a lot of fun. I like that you have to switch between characters in order to make it past certain bad guys safely, and there are just enough abilities between the four to keep things fresh. There's also a lot more going on than I initially thought, with all kinds of secrets and hidden levels scattered throughout the game. Couple that with the exciting boss fights and chaotic four-player action and you're in for a pretty good time.

Despite the lackluster level designs and dickish checkpoint system, I had a fun time with Caveman Warriors. It plows a lot of familiar ground and never really does much with the cool concept, but it's also a great multiplayer game with a lot of exciting moments. And while it probably won't spawn a new generation of caveman games, I love that there are developer still fascinated by prehistoric times.