2 
0 Melobot is a third person, story driven game from an eagle top down view released earlier this month. It was developed by Anomalie Studios and published by Microids. Melobot is available on Steam for £15.99. It is also available to play on the PS Store and Xbox.
Melobot: The Last Song offers a unique perspective on a well-told story; nurture nature and protect the environment. I only really needed to play ten minutes of this game to know I’d fall in love with it. As someone who adores simplistic graphical designs with a powerful story behind it, this game holds my heart. Even its title is a prime example of juxtaposition. The combination of a futuristic and sentient robot paired with the beauty of music. Chef’s kiss. You can tell I graduated in Literature..
A Mellow Melobot Meanders in Music
Gameplay
Melobot awakens to you playing ‘Do Ray Me’ on your keyboard which gives a wonderful insight to the rest of the game. One of the most interesting aspects of Melobot is the way you play. Your keyboard keys are the notes to your musical instrument; which also acts as your weapon and defence for the missions ahead. Keys Z & Q create a large area of attack from your instrument on your back while C & W allows you to heal. All the while playing sweet, sweet melodies. You can also upgrade these as you progress from gaining skills; and if you want to reset them, you can access this through the menu.
While exploring the area, I found myself just pressing keys to make my own little tune as I watched flowers blossoming around me. It made the whole experience just that more wholesome.
Melobot encounters meloflowers that are consumed by darkness. Unfortunately, this is due to mankind taking their experiments on them too far. Just normal human things. The flowers play a tune which you then have to replicate in order to set them free. This gives you a score out of three stars and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself playing again and again until you get full marks.
I LOVE the fact that your musical instrument changes when you enter different areas of the planet you’re on and the flowers change dependent on what instrument you’re using. I’m not telling you what they are, go play it and find out! So, a cute robot tries to heal the world’s ecosystem with the power of music. Take all of my money.
Graphics & Audio
Beautifully simplistic scenery with elements of darkness dotted around the map. It’s all Melobot needs to send the message of its story. It felt like I’d stepped into a watercolour painting when Melobot first steps out of their shuttle and onto the planet. In contrast, the boss fight areas – oh yes, you read that right, this game has BOSS FIGHTS – show how colourless life is without music and hope. The best part is it remained on 60fps throughout, no matter on movements or cut scenes. Seamless.
As for the music, oh man. The title screen alone had me writing an essay of notes. It gave a sense of heroic adventure, possibility of difficulty ahead but full of anticipation. A small detail, but I appreciated that it softens the volume in gameplay so you can focus on your musical challenges with the meloflowers.
Longevity
I literally spent half an hour wandering around playing the Jaws theme tune with the keyboard before actually moving onto gameplay. An hour flew by before I was on my first encounter of the machines. The very ones created by humans. Yano, the machines we built that were supposed to help us and now they’ve turned sentient and not very nice. I’m sure we’ve heard this story before…
The actual Melobot story can be completed within a few hours. That is, if you’re not distracted by the all the music and beautiful scenery like I was.
Final Thoughts
Anomalie Studios created a delightful yet thought-provoking story and I am here for it. They gave me the impression that Melobot was well loved when developing and it shows. I had been craving something a little different game-play wise for a while and Melobot delivered that to me.
A word of advice though; do not underestimate this game in terms of ease. Imagine you are a first time PC player. Remembering where keys are for your attacks and moving your mouse to ensure you’re kept out of harms’ way? Ooft. It’ll be a quick boss fight and you’d be the reason for it. I am totally not speaking from experience here…
Considering all of this, I will be awarding Melobot: The Last Song the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you enjoyed this review, check out my latest one here!
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