Barro | a Review
originally published on 26/08/2022;
Hello everyone, I am the professional rally driver, G.E.M.Simov, a speed demon unlike any other, come to share my exploits in Barro.
Simple review details - I rank games on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it.
Gameplay
Barro is a tiny little racing game that asks the Player if they want to have achievements enabled, after which the game spends the the first two races giving the Player achievements.
The game is monstrously simple - there are 10 tracks that the Player can race through, there are four vehicles that the Player can make use of - the only difference between those vehicles being the way they look, and there’s five buttons the Player can use - those being the WASD quartet and E for whenever the Player winds up falling off the track or otherwise indisposed.
That monstrous simplicity both helps and hinders Barro. In the first place, simplicity allows a game to really focus on the mechanics that are in place. In the case of a racing game, that’s the movement of the cars. The movement of the car in Barro is good - it’s responsive, it feels fast and it also tends to do a number of interesting things.
Whenever the car falls on its back, it winds up turning over on its own. Whenever the car winds up soaring through the air, the Player can still rotate it on a 360 degree axis. There’s nothing truly exceptional about those things, other than the fact that they’re decently competently made and contribute to the feeling of control that the Player has whilst driving their car.
The AI is relatively okay-ish, but it is quite silly at times.
However, the second place appears. Monstrous simplicity can also be a problem, as the lack of features or pretty much anything else to do, other than hold down the W key and press A and D to turn, is very noticeable. The game feels good for the first 30 minutes, it’s fun and provides a neat experience. After that, though, the game loses pace and becomes only satisfying, which i sa downgrade from the sensation of goodness that fills the Player in the aforementioned first half of an hour.
As mentioned, Barro is a tiny little game. Thus, there isn’t much to say about it, other than the fact that the driving is quite crisp, even if it wears off. 2/3
Presentation
On the one hand, Barro looks neat. It provides the player with the feeling of going fast, which is what racing games should do. Everything in the scenery goes by really quickly, the smoothness of the framerate contributes to the astounding sensation of gliding through the track, the sounds made when the car lands from a jump give it a visceral, powerful note - that much speed brings with it power! - while the animations accompanying those sounds also up the intensity.
It’s a simple look, one that works decently well. The camera is glued onto the butt of the car, there’s a rear-view mirror that’s mostly just for show but I quite like it, and there’s that.
The overall quality of the sound effects for this game is low, due to the fact that there’s 1 sound for an engine revving and maybe 2 sounds for the car bumping into something. Lastly, there’s 1 musical track - the one that plays over the out-of-race menu - and it isn’t too impressive.
Barro’s presentation is satisfactory. Maybe a bit more than just an a-okay, but it isn’t superb. 2/3
Story
Unfortunately, there is no story to speak of. Not only that, but the emergent storytelling that may be fabled to exist in a racing game is very lackluster in this one. As there is nothing to talk about in relation to the story… 0/3
Legendary Point
Does this game get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? NO, Barro does not get the legendary point, even if I was very pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of it. I enjoyed my limited time with it, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back for more.
Conclusion
4/10. Frankly, Barro is an okay game. A tiny little experience, or rather project, to maybe enjoy with friends - as multiplayer is supported - but beyond that, it’s nothing to really consider. Play it if you like racing games, potentially, and leave it at that.
I will place it in the bag of mediocrity. It may gather some dust, but it is what it is.