Party Animals Review: Animal Instincts

Picture this. You’re atop a submarine out in the middle of the ocean as it starts to descend beneath the surface. A horde of bipedal animals is duking it out on top of it as it makes its way below the waves when a little dog in a samurai outfit dropkicks you out of nowhere into the sea below. You clamber back up at the back and grab that frying pan that you had strategically dropped to the rear of the submarine moments earlier, before making your way back into the scuffle to exact your revenge with your weapon of choice. Furry bodies are flying everywhere, some lost to the sea for eternity, others still scrambling as the safe space decreases along with the submarine getting deeper. You’re clinging onto a lone handrail, one of the few remaining objects that stop you from being swept away, when out of nowhere, that same tiger you thought you had dispatched of earlier emerges from the depths, crossbow in hand, and dings you with a shot to the head, sending you to your watery grave.

If that sounds like some weird fever dream, I assure you it isn’t. It’s just one of the maniacal scenarios you’ll find yourself in when delving into the crazy world of Party Animals.

A Perfect Combination

If you’ve ever wondered what the result would be if Fall Guys and Gang Beasts had a baby, chances are the resulting image in your head would look something like Party Animals. Party Animals takes the physics-based combat of Gang Beasts, replaces the avatars with an impressively cute selection of animals that look like they’ve been pulled straight out of the cuddly plush section of your favorite toy shop, and gives players a wide array of objective-based maps to go to battle in.

Some of those objectives are as simple as being the last animal standing, the submarine map I touched on at the top being one such example of this type of mode. Even in these more simple modes, however, rarely is it just as simple as being the last animal standing, as each map typically comes with some sort of gimmick, such as taking place on top of an airborne jet that refuses to stay steady, or as mentioned, a submarine that’s rapidly descending. The creativity on show in these more simple moments only grows from there, though, as more complex objectives get thrown into the mix.

It would be impossible to touch on every map here and do them justice, so I’ll initially summarise by saying that there are 20 maps at launch, each of them unique, and each with its own gimmick. In one match, you could find yourself trying to drag an object suspended by a hot air balloon from one side of the map to another to your base, while the opposing team does the same – a cutesy yet violent take on tug of war, if you will. In the next round, you might find yourself taking part in a Party Animals take on Rocket League, a mode that quickly became a favorite of mine due to the absolutely hilarious physics that underpin all of Party Animals’ action. Other highlights include a hilarious railway race that sees you trying to feed your team’s train with coal, propelling it towards the finish line, while simultaneously jumping across onto the enemy locomotive in an attempt to sabotage their own efforts.

It’s this Fall Guys level of creativity, mixed with the Gang Beasts style of combat, that makes for a truly memorable experience. Despite pulling so heavily from the aforementioned titles, it never feels derivative due to the sheer ingenuity on show between maps. It’s a title that’s absolutely stuffed with content as well. As mentioned, there were a staggering twenty maps to muck around with, which meant that even after dumping significant hours into Party Animals, I was still occasionally getting blessed with a map that I hadn’t encountered yet.

Physics-Based Mayhem

If you’ve played Gang Beasts at all, you’ll at least be somewhat familiar with how Party Animals feels in the hands. Face buttons can be used to punch, headbutt, and kick, with shoulder buttons reserved for picking up objects and sprinting. I do think that Party Animals feels a little more precise in how it controls when compared to its competition, and it feels a little easier to save yourself when dangling off a ledge, moments from death, but it’s a welcome element of added control given the more complex objectives and maps that Party Animals is launching with.

That’s not to say that you won’t encounter plenty of physics-based disasters. I’ve wildly swung a lollipop as a baton, missing my target by miles, causing myself to plummet off the side of an airship. I’ve frequently forward-rolled to get out of the way of an oncoming headbutt, only to fling myself into the swinging fists of another attacker, the controls lacking the precision needed to avoid getting myself knocked out. All I’m saying is, yes, the controls are tighter than you might expect, but you can still expect plenty of emergent mayhem to shine through as a result of the wild physics.

Minor Gripes

I do have a couple of issues that I’d love to see addressed within Party Animals, not because they ruin the experience at all, but because I think they could make an already great product even better if addressed. The first of those is the camera, which I feel is just a little too tight to the action at times. This does vary based on the map somewhat, but all too often, I felt like my ability to read the battlefield and anticipate hazards on certain maps was compromised due to the low field of view. Some will argue that this just adds to the chaos and fun, and I think there’s an argument for that, but I would still like to see the visibility increased ever so slightly.

I also think the match duration for certain maps could use another look. It just feels like certain modes drag on a tad too long, the submarine map being the worst offender as it depends on one of four teams being the last team standing in three rounds, first team to get to three, then winning the match. As happened to me on plenty of occasions, teams can often just trade round victories, meaning it takes an absolute age for someone to rack up the required three points. It’s absolutely not a deal breaker but does somewhat drag if you get stuck in a match and are just eager to move on to the next gimmick.

Progression and Monetization

I really need to disclose at this stage that the review build of Party Animals we were granted access to contains all characters and cosmetics unlocked from the get-go. That being said, the cash shop was visible, and as expected, Party Animals is launching along with a plethora of cosmetics available for purchase. There are your usual premium and in-game currencies, and it is possible to earn a certain amount of both through leveling up. From what I could tell, the rate of progression seems fair going into the launch, assuming it stays the same that is. It’s also worth flagging that there is nothing gameplay impacting available for purchase at all, and as it stands today, I think the free content updates that the cash shop will fuel are a fair trade-off with

Conclusion

Party Animals could easily have been a derivative Gang Beasts or Fall Guys clone, but its incredibly creative maps and modes, along with the wealth of content that will be available at launch, have resulted in a title that feels like it has a real shout at joining the regular rotation of party game fanatics with immediate effect. Minor gripes with match length and camera issues aside, this is an incredibly well-polished experience that I foresee giving me and my friends hours upon hours of fun for years to come. Typically with party games, I only bother with them when I have company around or my better half and I want something fun to play while we open a bottle of wine. Perhaps, then, the biggest compliment I can give Party Animals is that while it absolutely is going to be a great game that I enjoy with familiar company, it’s also an experience that I see myself dipping into while flying solo, making use of the game’s seemingly robust matchmaking. In fact, that’s enough from me – don’t tell PETA, but I’m about to dive back into Party Animals and whack a few animals around the head with an oversized frying pan.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5

Available On: PC (Reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S; Publisher: Source Technology; Developer: Recreate Games; Released: September 20, 2023; Players: 1-8; MSRP: $19.99

Full Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.