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0 Inky Blinky Bob looks like it might be inspired by Choo-Choo Charles. As we take a mode of transportation, explore various islands, and hope we aren’t eaten by a monster. So if you enjoy that, then you can grab Inky Blinky Bob on Steam now. Or try the demo here.
This game looks like a gas
Gameplay
After arriving to an island and being saved from a plane crash the player is introduced to the character Ralph. He explains to us that we need to activate several Tesla towers, to lower the shields of the giant dome. Which you can not miss, as it is red. Ralph also tells us that there is a large government lap behind the dome, and that we need to destroy it. And gives the player his new creation, a hot air balloon that is kitted with guns. This is our only means from hopping from islands to do stuff. Throughout the game while travelling in the air, we are attacked by the monster, Bob. Who is the titular character of Inky Blinky Bob. When attacked by him, he will lock the balloons wheel in place leave you unable to escape. Thus forcing you to defeat him.
He is tough at first but over the course of Inky Blinky Bob, you can upgrade the balloon itself. Via materials scattered around buildings on the islands. These go towards three trees for the balloon. Armour, Damage, and speed. It won’t take you long to max them out, since when I was done with the first island it was nearly fully upgraded. Additional weapons for your air ship, are obtainable from the quests on different islands. One being the most useful is the rail gun. As it stun locks Bob, when fighting him.
Graphics & Audio
There’s a lot left to be desired in Inky Blinky Bob. It’s a shame, because the design for the titular creature is interesting, and the haunting choir melody is brilliant. Sadly, the game is riddled with both graphical and audio issues. Frames often drops no matter the settings, especially when Bob is about to appear on-screen. When in combat with him, the audio constantly lags or stutters, and the music that’s supposed to be playing is barely audible, only noticeable because of the slight hiss of drums you can hear from the track, or if you listen insanely close.
Environments also feels very hastily put together. Some buildings are just crammed to the brim with furniture and objects with no real reason, and some buildings even have stairs that just lead up to nothing. The game even crashes every time I quit, with the screen going green and pink like some sort of terrible Windows error.
Longevity
I was close to six hours in while playing Inky Blinky Bob. But unfortunately I had a soft lock occur. There isn’t any achievements as me writing this review, and I could not say if there are other endings.
Final thoughts.
For a game which mainly advertises being in a hot air balloon, fighting against a monster hot air balloon. I was not expecting to be on the ground most of the time. The player does a lot of mindless quests that apart from a couple do nothing for the plot. With some being a dude asking you to just get moonshine back, while another was just turning off some valves. I wish I could say that the quest with the sea monster was cool, but it’s too brief. Dialogue is never serious and ruins the whole atmosphere of Inky Blinky Bob. Don’t get me wrong a killer hot air balloon, is not exactly the most serious. But I expected the NPCs to say how he is effecting them.
Bob himself seems absent too, due to only attacking the player when they are airborne. And even then, you won’t see him flying through the sky as a warning. He just appears, locks you in place until he is defeated. In the end I did not beat the game due to a soft lock of not receiving a radio from Ralph to tell me what to do next. All the Tesla towers were activated, but the giant dome never shutdown.
Inky Blinky Bob is okay, but just misses the mark. I’d suggest maybe playing Choo-Choo Charles instead. So I’ll be giving it the Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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