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Remember Catlateral Damage? The game where you play as a psychotic cat destroying everything on site? Ever wanted the same type of game but, instead of a cat, you’d play as a dog or a bird? That’s where Messy Up comes into play: A fun, if somewhat lacking and slightly boring, party-style game where you make your owner’s life a living heck as you destroy their home.
“I’m gonna wreck it!”
The whole idea behind Messy Up is stupidly simple: You’re a pet and your job is to be a little rapscallion and destroy everything in a location without being caught. It’s brain-numbingly simple and won’t ignite the gaming world like it’s the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI, but what’s on offer is fun enough to entertain many gamers and I have to give it props for that alone. But, at the same time, the game did wear out its welcome after a few stages. Aside from a change in scenery and some minor gameplay tweaks, you’re basically doing the same song and dance in every stage and it quickly becomes repetitive. While, yes, there is some fun to be had, the game really is just one of those titles you pick up and play for a few minutes when you need a laugh and that’s pretty much it. That’s not to say it’s a bad game as there is some fun to be had. It’s just that there really isn’t much to make the game stand out from other similar titles on the market.
But, like I said, there are some good elements in this game. To start with, the artstyle is very unique. While it won’t blow you away with 10K Visuals and be the next benchmarking tool for PC gamers, the artstyle has this charming, almost toy-like quality to it as everything has this plastic and clay feeling to it. While some may call it slightly cheap, I think it adds to the charm. The artstyle also makes what you need to destroy easy to spot and focus on, which does lead to, what I feel, is this game's only sour point. Ironically enough, it’s the gameplay loop: All you do is go up to an object, hold a button, and your chosen animal does the rest, all the while trying to avoid being caught by the owner. Yes, you can pick up certain fallen items and launch them at objects to aid in the destruction and there’s also the gimmick of collecting certain objects before they hit the ground in order to not make sound, but that’s pretty much it. Actually, the throwing of items is a huge help as you can bounce items off each other, leading to some nice damage multipliers. As for avoiding the owner, most you can do is either throw an object at them, slam the door in their face (which actually is pretty funny), make them slip on something, or have them get stuck in a hole. You can also, in later stages, sabotage a generator to knock out the lights, which will make the owner focus on fixing that, or hide in closets a la Alien Isolation.
On that note, this is probably the first game I played since Conker’s Bad Fur Day where you can use poop as an offensive item. See, if you’re playing as the dog, you can take a squat and poop, which will cause the owner to get stuck in place if they step in it. Again, pretty funny and is one of the few games I know of that has poop as a defensive weapon, but it really doesn’t change the fact that this is a very OK game at best. I think my biggest issue with the game is that it’s clearly a multiplayer focused title as, playing alone, it’s very boring. I have nothing against multiplayer focused games, for the record, and I don’t mind playing them. There’s just times I would rather play solo and not have to deal with people online. While Messy Up is playable solo, barring some stages that do get slightly challenging, it’s very easy to tell this was designed to be a party game first and a solo one second. I say that because there’s a mechanic in the game where, if you’re caught, your friend can rescue you by destroying the cage you’re held in. Still, if you’re a solo gamer, then this game probably won’t be for you. But, if you got kids, they’ll probably get a kick out of this game. Heck, I could see this being a nice game for Twitch streamers to play with their buddies. But, for people like me who prefer to go solo and don’t like streaming, it’s hard to recommend this title at full price. Although, I did learn something pretty funny: It is possible to play multiplayer alone by setting up the controls to play as both Player 1 and Player 2. Clunky? Yes. Good for a quick laugh? Oh, goodness yes.
“The insurance company is never going to believe this.”
Messy Up is a cool concept for a game and I can see both younger gamers and Twitch streamers enjoying the title. But, even then, it’s a bit of a hard sell. There is inherently nothing bad about the game and there is some fun to be had. Just that, at the end of the day, this is basically an OK party game that you’d turn on to kill a few hours. While I did have some fun with it and did enjoy the concept, I’ll freely admit that this is definitely not a ‘me’ game (meaning something I’d play), but, hey, there’s games for everyone and there’s always bound to be one game that someone isn’t into and that’s perfectly fine.
