It’s not every day that you get a press release that starts with the phrase, “Hold on to your butts,” but when there’s a new Squanch Games release from Justin Roiland and company on the horizon you expect as much.
I’ve played a lot of games that were marketed as being funny. Sometimes they’re fantastic (like in the case of South Park and the Stick of Truth) but a lot of the time they just feel forced and cringey (looking at you Bubsy.) VR has the advantage of really making you feel immersed in the digital world and forcing you to sustain your sense of disbelief even further, opening you up to be amused a bit more easily. Accounting+ does a great job, as does Rick and Morty VR, so it’s no surprise that Trover Saves the Universe, the next VR game from Justin Roiland, is just as effective.
Oh, and here’s a trailer:
In Trover Saves the Universe you take on the role of a couch potato chair creature that never gets up from the comfy throne. With gamepad in hand you guide Trover around various planets, fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and trying to rescue your dogs from the big bad guy before he uses them to destroy the universe. It’s some high-stakes stuff.
Everything about Trover Saves the Universe is completely ridiculous. Every other sentence is laced with gratuitous profanity (which can be “censored” with mixed results) and the art style evokes that signature Roiland-style cartoonish flair with a dash of grotesque detail for good measure. Seeing little creatures poking out of eye sockets or having the likes of NPCs get right up in your face, spitting as they talk, never failed to evoke a reactionary neck jerk.
A lot of the demo we saw at GDC was the same as E3 last year, but it did include a new section. This new area introduced a flying character that was super annoying, but in a funny way. In fact, that feels like an apt summary of most things Justin Roiland gets his hands on.
On this planet I got to see one of the various chair upgrades which elevated my seat far into the air to give me a new vantage point above obstacles to see more of the level. What I liked best is how the upgrades (and pretty much everything else too for that matter) are all woven into the game naturally.
Since Trover is constantly breaking the fourth wall to make fun of me, point out issues in the game world, or even ridicule the game’s developers, everything has this strong cohesive sense of belonging. Nothing seems out of place.
Trover Saves the Universe is due out on PSVR May 31st, 2019 as was revealed yesterday during the PlayStation State of Play stream. And now today we also know it’s coming to PC VR headsets on June 4th, 2019. You’ll be able to find it on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, which we’re told will include the same VR support.
If you’ll be at PAX East you can demo the game at the Limited Run Games/Squanch Games booth #22091.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
