Chompy Chomp Chomp (XBLIG): "Like Pac-Man Only With Little Devils"

I'm going to be straightforward with you guys & gals. Lately the XBLIG marketplace has been plagued by games that don't really deserve a mention, or review. Some of them are clones, and some of them look so visually uninteresting that they scare away any potential buyers. These are part of the reasons I haven't done any XBLIG reviews lately. Instead of Indie developers who actually strive to make a good product there are a lot that just seem to want to cash in on the opportunity. It's sad. Sometimes I wonder "Where has all the innovation, and creativity gone!?". Well, I'm glad to say that "Utopian House of Sandwiches", the developer behind "Chompy Chomp Chomp" has renewed my faith in the indie game genre. This game is top notch in design, and gameplay. Everything about it is absolutely beautiful, and fun. I don't want to get too far into my opinion though. Let's get into the meat of the game ...

Have you ever wished that there was a game like Pac-man where pac pellets weren't the focus, but instead bloody visceral cartoonish carnage was what it was all about? Well wish no further, because "Chompy Chomp Chomp" is that game. This simple arcade style party game takes all that was good with games like Pac-man, and brings it to the next level! At the heart of the game are these four little devilish creatures called Chompys. For some unknown reason they are born into the world via an egg with only one thing on their mind, and that is to devour each other. The cartoon cannibalism plays out in a "Frantic" manner as each Chompy/Player tries to consume their siblings leaving only their jester like horns, and their eyeballs. The goal is simple. As the gamer you must devour your opponents, score points, and outwit them with various power-ups that magically appear onscreen. It's a Chompy eat Chompy world out there, and only the quickest will survive, or come out on top.

'Chompy Chomp Chomp' features two modes of play that consist of basically the same features/rules. You can play offline/online against three other Chompys (players), and set the difficulty setting (Easy, Normal, Hard) as well as tweak other settings such as power-up frequency, poison inclusion, time limit, and point limit. One of the cool features that "Chompy Chomp Chomp" has is it's five types of arenas (Disco, Ancient, Industrial, Minimalist, Sandwiches). Each arena has three layouts that are made available from the start. Often times I'll see a developer make things unlockable which is alright, but I think 'Uptopian Sandwiches' did fine with their decision to make all options readily available. Aside from all the available arenas there are also various in-game items that can be picked up to enhance gameplay. You'll find point multipliers in the form of multi-colored fruits, power-ups (Speed Up, Teleport, Invincibility, Sticky, Slippy, Gas Bomb), and poison bottles if you opt for them in the setup menu.

The ultimate goal in "Chompy Chomp Chomp" is to gain as many points as you can within the time limit/point limit by eating the other players/Chompys. There are four different color Chompys (Red, Blue, Yellow, Purple), and during gameplay there is a cursor under the feet of Each Chompy that refers to the color Chompy that can be eaten. The color cursor changes multiple times during each match, so keeping a watch on things is necessary. You'll find that every time a color change is about to happen a ringing sound will chime in. Another helpful tip is that you can pass through players/Chompys who are not trying to eat you. Players can only eat the designated Chompy, and no one else. To win a match a player must gain the highest amount of points within the time/point limit. If you win your Chompy will be placed on one of four player pedestals (1st, 2nd, 3rd, Loser).A players' stat screen will also be shown showing how many wins each player got as well as your k/d (kill/death) ratio.

After playing offline for a while I found that I really enjoyed the game. To be honest though "Chompy Chomp Chomp" does take some getting used to. I suggest you that you spend some quality time getting used to the rules of the game. As far as online goes I was unable to test it out due to the lack of any online players. This is an issue that plagues a lot of indie titles that have online game modes. It's sad, because this game actually deserves a good online community. The game looks, and plays absolutely brilliantly. I could not find one flaw with it whatsoever. I highly recommend getting this game if you haven't already. It's worth every microsoft point!!!