This really isn’t the game I expected. At first glance, Maschinen-Mensch’s latest release could easily pass for a traditional rogue-like. Side-on 2D platforming? Check. Collectible power-ups? Check. Toggleable mini-map. Check. Burps that heal your three mates as you swing from vine to vine around a neon-lit cave chased by a bunch of freakish lizard-monster things? Hang on, what?
Mother Machine is an action platformer with some light RPG elements sprinkled in. You’ll embody a small gremlin tasked with doing the bidding of the titular Mother (who is indeed a machine), a hulking robotic entity that requires you to crawl, swing and chomp your way through dripping caves on an alien planet. Whilst you can do this all on your lonesome, working your way through the narrative in isolation, there’s always the option to invite three other creepy little buggers along for the ride. If you die in the process, don’t sweat it, as Mother will just 3D print another you to carry on where you left off in one of her bizarre meat printers and you can all scamper off looking at pretty colours together in this eerie series of freakish landscapes.
Rather than one big map to explore, you’ll be sent on expeditions, smaller jaunts through alien lands to complete one of six types of task including turning on derelict satellites to open up further areas or facing aggressive robots before they can become too big of a problem. With each procedurally generated mission only lasting around 20 or so minutes, it’s ideal to jump on with others for a quick exploration session through levels that feel a little too organic at times. From walls streaked with dripping, glutinous acid, menacing silhouettes of bulbous flora swaying in the foreground, strings of saliva drooling from mouths with way too many teeth, there’s an organic look and feel to the world that should be at odds with the playful style of gameplay on offer but somehow it just works.
Teaming up to traverse these lands is a huge benefit as each member can choose a perk of sorts and use this to benefit the whole group. One player might choose a healing fart, allowing friends to refill their energy bar by inhaling a delicious pink cloud. Another might have the ability to blast shards of crystal death from their body, doling out huge damage to the local fauna that seems to be on your tail at every turn. With mutation points hidden away in the corners of each area, it’s well worth seeking them out to spend on expanding your arse-nal for the benefit of all. It’s about working together and coming up with a balanced party to face any and every eventuality you come across, combining powers for the greater good, even if that power is vomiting explosives.
Getting around these weird and wonderful landscapes is a mixed bag of jumping, swinging, and eating anything that you can get your little clawed appendages on. Virtually any surface can be clambered up, as long as you have the stamina, the small circle gradually depleting (think Breath of the Wild) until you fall unceremoniously on your arse 20ft below. There’s fall damage at play here, along with a physics engine that reminds me just a little of Human Fall Flat or even the Trine series, and it doesn’t take many misjudged jumps to whittle away your heart meter to a worrying degree. This is where gnawing on a nearby plant will give you the edge, with many adding extra stamina to your meter, allowing you to climb for longer and reach otherwise inaccessible areas full of goodies to grab. Why not pull off one of the many included emotes to show your friends where the booty lies? Or instead, why not keep it all for yourself and make them beg for scraps when the opportunity comes along?
It’s not only before each venture into the unknown that you’ll adapt your gremlin-goblin-thing, as shops of a sort can be found in each level. With the option of spending the glowing pink crystals that you have smashed to pieces and collected on your travels, there’s always a choice to be made, maybe between gaining further energy for your mutation ability or having extra health to see you through some of the tougher platforming challenges. Should you find yourself short, why not beg and borrow from a friend, as you can share the wealth to ensure that the whole party gets home in one piece. You know, that one friend who kept everything to themselves: greedy little goblin that he is.
Should you find a little too difficult to keep in one piece, you’ll respawn at the levels start but rather than have to fight your way back to where you died, you can place a handy portal on the map and teleport directly to any previously explored area, saving both time and frustration, a little feature that I hope other developers might see and pick up on.
There’s a large focus on customisation in Mother Machine, with collected currency being spent on new skins, eyes, ears, and more, to make it easier to distinguish your critter on-screen from the three others hurling themselves around, and also to express your unique style. Because no-one wants that mottled green-grey look that’s so last season.
Mother Machine is an entertaining multiplayer action platformer that’s simple to get to grips with and a ton of fun to play with others. There’s always a fresh expedition waiting to swing, burp, and fart your way through, chuckling with mates as you do so. I’d recommend that you give it a go and make your Mother proud.
