There is a certain charm behind the age old phrase of "no pain, no gain". Enter the epidemic that is Swarm. A score chaser down to its very core, Swarm doesn't pull any punches in what can simply be compared to a Modern day Pac-man like experience with some Chinese water torture thrown in for good measure. 

 

 As the "Momma" tube coils up and out from the ground, you start controlling your Swarm of creatures and work towards achieving the set score for the stage which allows Momma to progress you to the next stage. The game plays like a 2D Side-scrolling platformer with a plane of depth to movement similar to beat'em ups of old like Final Fight or Streets of Rage. Swarm's main objective is to reach a score point and the method of obtaining the score is through little purple "spirits" that are collected throughout the level by the destruction of objects. However, destroying containers or obtaining most of these spirits involves a twisted catch. With a swarm of 50 at the max, your numbers quickly dwindle unless you apply a precise approach to the methods you undergo to advance through these obstacles. There's absolutely no way to avoid the countless deaths your precious swarm, in fact it's encouraged.

As I mentioned before, your swarm needs to collect spirits, but in order to smash open these objects or work towards obtaining these precious spirits, the brutal splattering of your blue goonie tribe is exacted to meet your reluctant goal. The game will continue to go on even despite the violent expiration of your wretched brethren as long as one remains. With this one lone creature, your goal is to survive long enough to reach the next Swarm nest where you can repopulate back to 50 and navigate to the end of the level with your objective accomplished. The score from the purple spirits, if collected through a continuous chain, build a level of score and multipliers. The more spirits you collect and longer you keep it up, the more score you can get all while keeping your swarm somewhat alive and ready to conquer through the land ahead. 

 

One of the first signs in the game's polish is the pacing that concerns the contextual advancement of new maneuvers to progress the game's ever changing obstacles, whether it's the stacking of your critters to reach great heights or sending your blue martyrs to charge into crates and gather your prized purple spirits. Throughout the levels, you still need a certain number of your entourage to claim hidden bonuses as your troop lands upon a switch with a specified number of creatures. The obstacles are varied and feature several different methods of monster extinction, whether it be dismemberment or drowning, and it's surprisingly presented in such a comical way as if there was whimsy to be had with burning to death. Swarm even rewards players with Death medals that climb in rank of prestige for how often your blue horde dies in that particular fashion. The high points that merit Swarm however also happen to add to the overall flaws of the game, making the entire experience occasionally fickle depending on the player's patience.  

 

Swarm has a challenge that keeps you coming back for more the way Super Meat Boy or Limbo would, but it lacks the sensation of reward that one would feel once an obstacle is cleared. At times the game corners you against such crushing odds that getting through it can be a chore, but it all depends on the given scenario and obstacle. For example, if given the setting of a giant spinning fire chain and platforms, a skilled player can use the stacking technique followed by a charge forward to get through the fiery hurdles with few casualties. Then imagine a similar scenario, with giant fans blowing away and separating your entire assembly of azure followers into more fire chains that spin, along with land mines and kamikaze insectoid fuckers that complicate all progress into a discouraging stand-still. These scenarios happen often as you progress further into the game and again the frenetic nature of surpassing these obstacles add to the frustration of play when you can lose track of which creature is commanding the Swarm. One final criticism can be attributed to the checkpoints of each level. They're usually placed in front of the same challenging obstacles that re-spawned you back to them in first place. I understand that this is the point of a re-spawn, but the cruel nature of some of these obstacles can only add to the frustration of the game, which can bring back nostalgic feelings reminiscent of NES games. Oh and by the way, when all of your swarmites die, your score gets reset to the last recorded score of the checkpoint. 

 

All in all, Swarm is definitely worth the buy if you're looking for a challenge that's different and packed with charm. However, be prepared for some occasional frustration over flops that can't be blamed over a quote unquote "lack of skill".