THE LAST CARGO – PC Game Review

THE LAST CARGO
Developed and Published by Ehnenu
Available on Steam for PC

In The Last Cargo, you control a guy in a wheelchair who you’ve apparently decided to help, so says a mysterious typed voice on the screen. Answers to who this person is, how they became wheelchair bound and what their purpose is will be revealed when you reach the final level. Travelling in a lift, the doors open onto the first level where you must control your wheelchair bound accomplice and complete the quest of the level. Do this and your new friend will regain control of part of his body. Shrouded in darkness without a map, you’re on your own to solve the quest.

Utilising the keyboard keys to operate the sluggish wheelchair, which I can confirm is as stubborn and awkward to operate as one is in real life, THE LAST CARGO pits you against the darkness and enemies that either electric shock you or explode – neither of which are welcome. Slowly rolling around the corners of the rooms, bumping into blocked and inaccessible door entries, I found myself getting more and more brassed off with this initially intriguing game. Without a map and with no explanation as to what the inventory in the corner is for – something you have to examine yourself – the game is a test of patience and perseverance that is in no way forgiving. Die and you have to start the level you’re on again. If you choose one life mode, should you die, it’s game over. As I said, this game doesn’t suffer fools and in a similar fashion, it doesn’t suffer casual gamers either. For those wanting a short game to get stuck in now and then, this could have been it but the clunky controls which tire your hand out and top-down visuals that limits your view of the labyrinth of rooms just makes you want to pull your hair out even more. With no easy mode to speak off, you’re pretty much up shit creek especially with a randomising system that means no two games are alike. Argh!

Lacking scares, THE LAST CARGO has very little going for it except for its CUBExSAW-esque storyline that will leave you itching to find out the full plot. However, the gameplay itself is so frustrating that my initial interest in the game’s intriguing plotline soon waned as I just wanted the experience to end. If pushing wheelchairs uphill is a hobby to you, then maybe you’ll enjoy this game. For the rest of us, I would give the game a wide berth.

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