House Fighters: Total Mess
Review
House Fighters isn't quite a total mess, but it does leave something to be desired...
by Dan Lenois
reviewed on PC
Taking to the skies...
House Fighters: Total Mess adapts a rather straightforward Toy Story-esque aesthetic. When the family is home, the room is filled with static, unresponsive childhood toys. When all those pesky humans are gone, however, everything turns to open warfare. Every room, every surface becomes its own battlefield.
There's something charming about the disproportionately small size of your plane in such a huge environment. However, after the first few minutes of play, this charm quickly wears off, as a more stark reality sets in. By making everything in each room so huge, there is never any need to strafe or otherwise pull off complicated aerial maneuvers.
In almost all levels, there's never even an incentive to increase or decrease your speed. Just casually fly at the default minimum. The entire game can be completed more or less utilizing the mouse alone. Setting aside a few quick bombing runs, there's not much diversity in the levels. Just fly around collecting random items and limited-use weapons until the game tells you that you're done, and be sure not to hit too many invisible walls along the way...
A new coat of paint...
The customization here is one of the few areas that House Fighters: Total Mess mostly manages to stand out. There's a decent array of color combinations you can unlock over time, to decorate your plane to your liking. However, the lineup of color options isn't too extensive, and there's no way to alter the intensity or select your own colors.
The decision to hide additional planes behind unlock requirements may be understandable, but it in no way alleviates the repetitiveness of the missions. While the freedom to customize and play one's own way wouldn't fix or make up for all the little ways this game fails to impress, it would be a good start.
Crash and burn...
There were a number of technical issues encountered throughout the several hours I spent playing both the main levels and the optional side quest levels. The game doesn't always recognize that you've completed the listed objective.
Another issue that reared its ugly head was one particular level where, upon completing the initial objective, a door elsewhere in the house opened, but then a short cutscene initiated. However, when the cutscene ended, and my plane was just inside the room, the game glitched out, put my plane on the opposite side of the door, and made the door impossible to open again, the definition of a softlock error. This, combined with other lesser glitches and errors, can make the gameplay experience, sadly, quite frustrating at times.
Overall:
Had it been an early access title, House Fighters: Total Mess might be able to excuse some of its more obvious technical issues and lack of gameplay refinements. However, for something presented to the public as a finished product, House Fighters: Total Mess is anything but. From all appearances, its developer seems to be quite active in responding to community concerns via Steam's discussions forum. It is quite feasible that, in a matter of just a few months, this game might be almost unrecognizable compared to its present state. One can only hope...
5.0
fun score
Pros
Charming childhood aesthetic, passable customization options.
Cons
Unsatisfying combat, sluggish controls, and invisible walls galore.
