Merry Snowballs | a Review
originally published on 13/12/2024;
Hello everyone, I am the thing, G.E.M.Simov, a Carpenter-esque snowman here to tell you about the secret of snowballs, which I will regale you with through a review of “Merry Snowballs”.
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
Merry Snowballs is a tiny little game that is meant to be played in VR. Oddly enough, that is not present almost anywhere, as a result of which launching this game, following an installation, might render the Player that it is unplayable (unless a VR headset and controllers are connected to the PC that the game is running on and are set up already).
So, this is a VR game. What is it about? It’s about throwing snowballs. It’s about doing so through a set of 25 levels, with the last being a special, funky level. Each of those levels requires that the Player throw a snowball at every enemy (who will also throw snowballs at the Player, move around and hide behind terrain), without dying.
The Player (Character, though in a VR game it is essentially the Player) takes damage whenever a snowball, thrown by an enemy, hits them. Each time a snowball hits the Player, they lose 1 heart, and losing all their hearts means they die. The Player starts each level with 3 hearts and hearts can appear during a level, but they need to be hit with a snowball before they can be picked up.
The Player throws snowballs by first making a snowball (by pressing the trigger and holding it down) and then releasing the trigger to throw it. In addition to releasing the trigger, though, the Player should also move their hand (holding the controller) as though they are throwing an actual snowball, to aim the throw. Alternatively, the Player will have access to the snow gun, which does not require the throwing motion and can just be aimed, after which the Player gets to press and release the trigger to fire a snowball out of it.
The Snowgun has ammo, which is replenished whenever the Player hits a Snowgun pick-up (like a heart) with a snowball. However, getting a Snowgun pick-up does not add 25 snowballs to its ammo, it sets the Player’s Snowgun’s ammo to 25, meaning that the Player should not be too trigger happy with getting Snowguns, as it is most efficient to use the last snowball in a Snowgun, so that the pick-up grants 25 bullets.
Then there’s also the Triple Snowgun, which fires three snowballs instead of one; then there’s the Icegun, which does not fire a projectile but, instead, just freezes (and instantly kills) the enemy it is pointed at; there’s the Slow Motion Pick-Up (which is an hourglass) that slows down enemy movement and actions by a lot, allowing for some sick trickshot; there’s the Blizzard pick-up, which makes loads of snowballs fall from the sky and hit all enemies, and so on and so forth.
Other things that can appear in a level so that they can then be picked up are Spin Tickets and Presents. Presents give the Player 1000 points, while Spin Tickets allow the Player to spin the wheel once. When the wheel is spun, which can be done before beginning a level, the Player gets a pick-up right in front of themselves at the start of the level, depending on what appears on the wheel. It can be a Slow Motion Pick-Up, it can be a Lightning Pick-Up, it can be a Fireworks Pick-Up - all of them quite useful.
Now, while the enemies can run around and hide behind cover, the Player is quite stationary. As a result of that, they have another means of avoiding damage - and that is by either hitting the enemy snowballs mid-air, which destroys them, or blocking them with a shield, which is situated in their other hand. This is very simple, but very effective, and allows for some neat experiences.
Lastly, a bit more on the enemies - as the levels go on, the enemies get better. They start using Snowguns, they get helmets that make it necessary to hit them twice, then other special enemies appear that can be hit multiple times and who throw BIG snowballs that need to be whittled down before they can be blocked.
Based on the amount of time taken to finish a level, the number of enemies who have been hit, the presents collected (hit with a snowball) and the accuracy of the Player’s throws, a score is calculated for the Player. If the score is sufficiently high, stars are awarded, with the goal being to get at least 2 stars on every level, and 3 on some, so that the final level can be unlocked, because it requires 60 stars to have been earned.
That last level features the only bossfight in the game - the Player must bead Bad Santa, who uses a Snowgun, has a lot of Health, can teleport around and throws big snowballs at the Player occasionally, whilst also calling in friends every now and then. It’s, actually, a very neat fight, due to the fact that the game’s controls are as simple and responsive as they are.
Overall, it’s a decently fun experience. Unfortunately, the game teeters off as soon as Bad Santa is defeated, because there’s no point in playing it anymore. Sure, the Player could try to get as high a score in all the levels as possible, so as to pop up on the leaderboard, but if Bad Santa has been beaten, most of the levels are already completed to 3 star completion.
The fact that there is also no multiplayer in a game like this, which seems to have a very good foundation for just that, is a bit of a let-down. Still, it is a decently enjoyable experience. 2/3
Presentation
This game’s presentation is a mixed bag. On the one hand, everything is, visually, stylized and looks very cozy and Christmassy. On the other, it is unnervingly uncanny and even horrendously ugly.
The pretty part of the game would have to be the color scheme, coupled with the environments. The uncanny elements are definitely the Characters who run around and do their thing - the children are very unnerving, even if that can be expected out of their appearances - huge heads, thin, lanky limbs and bodies. The ugly thing is Bad Santa, who is horrendously hideous and just does not jive well with me at all.
However, the game is, overall, not bad to look at. The menus are reasonably okay, the User Interface is functional and at times even neat - such as the blackboard depicting the Player’s Hearts and progress through a level - and the tutorial that the game offers is more than enough.
Unfortunately, in other regards it fails. The audio of Merry Snowballs is too loud, and even when lowered via its settings, the volume is far too great. There aren’t many tracks to go through, and those that are present are only decent, at best, due to their relation to Christmas and the similarity of the sound of every Christmas-related song. The sound effects are also faced with such a predicament - they are louder than they should be and feel a bit lacking in some capacity, though they get their job done.
Much like with its gameplay, a bit more could have been present to give it that shine. However, it was not done, and as such it is only decent. 2/3
Story
There is no story in Merry Snowballs, aside from, maybe, the fact that there’s a Bad Santa who must be beaten in a snowball fight. 0/3
Legendary Point
Does this game get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? NO, it does not get the Legendary Point, even if it is a fun experience for around an hour. It simply did not touch me the way Bad Santa looks like he touches kids… 0/1
Conclusion
4/10. This is a very average game. It’s actually not bad at all, but it is missing the components that would make it a truly enjoyable experience. On top of that, it requires VR hardware, which still costs far too much, and is unplayable without it, which renders it very inaccessible. I could recommend it to parents who are looking to get their children something, but there are other, far better options for that demographic.
In the bag of mediocrity it goes, to gather dust and prompt me to wonder what it could have been…