NEIGHBORHORDE REVIEW

It’s a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhorde
By Brett Wolfe
Reviewed on Xbox One
Released on June 6th, 2017 on Xbox One, PC, and PS4
Developer: Fermenter Games
​Publisher: Fermenter Games

They say that all press is good press and I do agree with that. However, why does this only relate to high-end items or popular domains? Why am I hearing how bad a game is or how the servers never work, but I don’t hear anything good about the little guys? That’s how media works nowadays, but I’m here to change that and let you know about one of those little guys!

​Neighborhorde is a local co-op survival action game developed and published by the great folks at Fermenter Games. It tells the story of you and your buddies after your mom tells you to stop playing video games and go outside! Unfortunately, it just so happens that a group of dastardly robots travel from another dimension to take over the city of Neighborville. So, step one is to call the police and military, right? No? What do you mean no? Are we supposed to fight them? With what? Toys…why would we use toys? Ok, I guess we’ll just have to trust you on that.

The game mechanics are rather simple, you and a group of your coolest bros fight wave after waves of interesting enemies ranging from scary lunch ladies with their mystery meat casserole to axe-wielding zombified Abraham Lincolns to even giant killer feet (and no, you didn’t misread that last part, there is actually giant feet that fall from the sky). You will fight five waves of increasingly difficult enemies until you reach one of the four bosses. Conquer that boss and you get to fight another set and face a different boss and the cycle repeats until you face three of the four bosses. Once you have completed this, you fight one more set of five and then you are worthy to fight THE FINAL BOSS! Now you can take down these fiends however you feel fit with your choice of forty different powerups and forty different weapons. Now these are the real game changers as the way you spec out your weapon and powerup selection will either lead to victory or your team’s inevitable downfall. Some weapons are good and some are unforgivingly terrible. My personal favorites were the marshmallow launcher or the dog poo thrower (much better than it sounds), but I fully recommend staying away from the pillow and some others as they just ruin your pool of items instead of improving it.

​For the soundtrack and visuals of Neighborhorde, there is not much to say. The graphics are very blocky are remind me of random drawings you would see throughout the notebooks of high schoolers all over the country. They were cool and I found them very appealing, but nothing to write home about. I feel the same way about the soundtrack as it pairs well with the games old-school appeal. The jams were really nice to listen to during my time playing and I felt nostalgic 90s vibes going on.

I was a bit hesitant as I loaded up Neighborhorde. The game had average graphics, wasn’t from any developer I have ever heard of, and it was priced at $3 USD. Usually, that can be a recipe for disaster, emphasis on the word usually. This game went above and beyond my expectations and I could not have found myself happier while playing. When I played this with my brother and girlfriend, we all just laughed and had a great time. Obviously, this game has some flaws, but they don’t affect the game in a way that made me want to stop playing it. Neighborhorde is a phenomenal party game and I couldn’t have been happier to add this to the list of games I have had the pleasure to review.

​*Note: A copy of this game was provided for the purpose of the review

Final Score: 8.5/10

+Fun Gameplay
+Awesome Party Game
+Cheap Price
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