You can also play the game in couch co-op, with the action becoming split-screenStranger Things 3: The Game
THE ’80S NETFLIX NOSTALGIA-FEST GETS A ’90S-STYLE VIDEOGAME TIE-IN CHRIS BURKE
PUBLISHER NETFLIX / DEVELOPER BONUSXP / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £16.74/$19.99
as Nancy making the correct coffees
for the newspaper guys, or buying
shampoo for Mrs Wheeler, while others
may involve you helping out a random
Hawkins resident with clearing their
rat problem, our getting them out of a
room they’ve locked themselves in.Forming the party
All of the show’s main characters are
playable, unlocked as you ‘meet’ them.
Only two characters are on-screen at
any time: the one you control and the
other following. You can swap directly
between the two, or toggle either with
the rest of your gang. Each character
has a particular skill; some will be
vital for progress through an area. For
example, Lucas can use cherry bombs
to clear rubble, Max drops healing
items and Dustin can hack coded
locks. However, you can play through
the story as any character, regardless
of whether they were even in that
particular scene in the TV show.
Fighting is a one-button spamfest
as you take down knife-throwing
Russians, and rats that come out
of a Gauntlet-style generator thatMuch like the Netflix
show, this tie-in taps
into such a deep
well of nostalgia that
it’s hard not to get
sucked into its time
vortex, one that whisks you back to
the mid-’80s, albeit anachronistically
in videogame terms. The game’s pixel
art feel recalls SNES-style 16-bit
graphics, with the world of Hawkins,
Indiana presented in a vibrant,
isometric perspective. A decade out,
then, since we didn’t see games like
this until the early ‘90s. Still, it bursts
with retro energy, particularly the
way in which the show’s characters
remain instantly recognisable, even
hilariously so, despite the lack of
polygonal definition.
Then there’s the old-school fetch-
quest gameplay, button-bashing
fighting, light puzzling and synthwave
soundtrack, and the very fact that it
even exists. Direct movie or TV tie-ins
used to make up a lot of videogame
releases back in the ’80s and ’90s, in
the days before games began to have
their own narrative clout.
A central map helps you travel
between the show’s principal
locations, Starcourt Mall, Hopper’s
cabin, downtown Hawkins,
Weathertop, the pool and the kids’
suburban homes. The speech bubble
dialogue presents a truncated but
effective version of the story, and
progress through the key events
might have you needing to travel to
the mall to talk to Steve at Scoops
Ahoy, or fighting rats in Mrs Driscoll’s
basement. There are side-quests too,
mostly made up of fetch-quests, such
you need to destroy. Each of the
characters has either a melee or
ranged attack, so you can make some
tactical decisions.
Puzzles come as breaker switches
operated in the correct order, as every
door in Hawkins seemingly has an
electronic lock, or using pressure pads
and the power of your companion,
who can be ordered to stay put or
follow. It’s hardly challenging, but it
is distracting enough that you can
happily breeze through the eight
hours or so of gameplay it provides.
Since the game closely follows the
series, don’t play it before you’ve seen
all eight TV episodes. Having said that,
since the game takes about as long as
it takes to watch the show, and as it’s
divided up into the show’s episodes,
you could try playing it as you watch.
All in all, it’s a fun throwback, hugely
disposable and with a shelf life about
as long as people are still talking
about Stranger Things. Still, don’t let
that stop you from enjoying it. Qshort
cutWHAT IS IT?
A Netflix show tie-in
tapping into ’80s
nostalgia.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
A 16-bit SNES game,
knowingly old school
but not without
charm.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Fans of the TV show,
fans of isometric
adventure games,
16-bit SNES fans and
those who really,
really like
fetch-quesitng.“Don’t play it
before you’ve
seen all eight TV
episodes”
OXM VERDICT
A fun,
undemanding,
retro-styled tie-in
to the hit Netflix
television show.7
LEFT The
isometric pixel
presentation
harks back to
the 16-bit era.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 081REVIEW