DLC QUEST - SHORT REVIEW

DLC Quest
Released: 11.2.11
Platform: XBLIG


Developer & Publisher: Going Loud Studios

This indie darling is a sassy commentary on our times while being a unique platformer of its very own. It is short and sweet and ultimately one big joke of a game, on purpose of course.

"DLC Quest" is a satirical platfomer based on the popular trend of downloadable content in games today. Sometimes games are released practically unfinished and rely on patched to be downloaded later to fix the experience. And nearly every game has some type of DLC where you can add costumes, weapons, maps, etc. While the latter type of downloads typically cost a pretty penny, you will only have to spend the in-game coins you collect (a la "Mario") on the DLC herein. It is a meta-game in this regard. Some NPCs even refer to themselves as such.

When you begin "DLC Quest" you feel like you are playing an unfinished game and that is highly on purpose. You talk to the in-game merchant from whom you must purchase animation upgrades, sound effects, the ability to access a menu and so on. Thus, the quest for DLC is the point of the game all in order to, you guessed it, save the princess from an evil adversary. Perhaps the best reference in the game is the horse armor that you can buy. Bethesda took a lot of crap for having that be the first DLC available for "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion." The best part, the asking price in "DLC Quest" is 250 coins, the same amount of Microsoft Points (if I'm not mistook) that people had to shell out to give their horse some clothes.

This is a short game. You probably wouldn't spend more than half an hour on it and that's really it needs to be. It reminded of one aspect I loathe in games (particularly platformers), treading and re-treading the same place, scouring it for collectibles. Seriously, such a meaningless aspect of many games that we could all do without. I suppose "DLC Quest" is kind of critic-proof in a way because all of its faults could be taken as intentional parody. At $1 it is a good enough deal and an experience you probably won't forget. It made me laugh at the absurdness, but truthfulness of our current state of games.

 7 / 10 

CONTENT: violence, rude humor, some sensuality (in low pixels mind you)