Clid The Snail Review

A snail is the most anthropomorphic creature on Earth. It's likely that this is the reason it took 50 years of gaming history for one to be found. It's not like choosing between a fox, a hedgehog, a gecko or a bandicoot. All of these animals have identifiable arms, legs and faces. Snails, however, have no arms or legs. They only have a face, one long slimy foot and a shell. This is comparable to anthropomorphizing a fish or Earthworm Jim. It can be done, it's clear. Clid the Snail gives the idea a try and the result is an anti-hero version Momaw Nadon with an antenna and a shell. You can google the name if you don't remember.

Clid the Snail, a top-down twin stick shooter that stars the title character as a gun-toting, grizzled factory worker on a mission of ridding the continent of a plague jacked slugs, is Clid the Snail. Clid's eight-to-10-hour adventure is filled with grimdark colours and badass weapons, but also has a complex narrative and world to explore. This is not something you'd find in a twin-stick. Geometry Wars has never offered a story mode.

Since its recent announcement, we have been eagerly anticipating Clid the Snail. We were also privy to early screenings so it is nice to be able share our thoughts and see the final product. Is this a new standard for anthro adventures or have they bitten off more than they can chew?

Metal Slug

You play the role of Clid, a humanoid snail who has more weapons than Arnold Schwarzenegger. After fighting the latest attack by a plague of snails, you arrive at the citadel to get some bamboo juice. However, the snails decide to exile your violent ways and you're forced to return home. You are told to leave because killing the slugs is against the Snail Citadel's pacifist teachings. It doesn't matter if they die without you, and that they don't know that you are fighting for their safety.

Clid embarks on a journey to other animal races' citadels, still searching for the bamboo juice. He is guided by Belu, a Navi-type fairy, who helps him to rid the land from the slug plague. It's not easy to do, but someone has to do it. Clid is joined by the Alcastor Gang of anthro outcasts after the first level. They include a Chameleon named Cassius, an anthro-mute bat, a Katana-wielding Ninja Frog, a wrench-toting Hedgehog and an old Turtle who are very upset that you killed their mouse friend in the first level. Clid remains as unapologetic and nonchalant as ever. He was actually torching the whole Grasshopper citadel.

The mission structure is hub-based. You must respond to the Citadels' pleas for assistance. They contact Alcastor to pay for the privilege to send a snail out to fight the slug plague. The story takes a twisting turn towards the end, which I won’t spoil. It's possible to see it coming but it completely changes the story. It's not a very interesting narrative and fails to convey a story that will help you reach your next goal. It is also quite cumbersome in terms of dialogue, exposition, and scene direction. There is a lot to tell and many times where things happen off-screen.

That opening scene is an example. The slug plague is not the inciting incident that propels our hero into his adventure, but it is there. Clid is being flushed from the Snail Citadel, rather than the inciting incident. He is confused and sets out to find more juice. It's not an invitation to the player to become emotionally invested. You may feel a little bit drained, but it is not as bad as you might think.

This could have been an interesting opening, according to me. You could show the slugs actually attacking the citadel, then Clid going to battle them, and use it as a demonstration. It is not just something that's vaguely passively referred to, but a real threat. Clid can return to the slime-shed after he has finished with it. Instead of the bamboo juice snark and all that, Clid will find that the Snails have literally blocked the door and shouted that he had broken the rules the last time. This is far more offensive because they have saved you, the player. These are simple changes to existing content, but they're far more effective in showing what's going on and giving you, the player, an incite to continue your journey.

I think Clid should have been less snarky and obsessed with boring bamboo juice, and more of a solid backstory and motive. Is he the only one who is violent? What has happened to him in the past? Although the narrative rarely goes deeper than the surface, it does contain some worldbuilding. It gives you a sense of the various races and giants (humans) who came before. These races, which are all irritatingly speaking gibberish, is akin to Biomutant's universally hated gibberish. Clid sounds like Bane on an acid trip speaking in tongues.

I'm Coming Outta My Shell

Clid the Snail's gameplay is organized around 6 levels that are fairly linear and scattered with pickups and enemies. You can see some interesting old human debris in the area designs. However, the colour scheme is dull, muddy, and it's difficult to see detail or appreciate the details through the murk. Although the levels are very detailed, the PS5's graphical fidelity is not sufficient to give them any definition. The rough edges of characters and areas will be obvious, such as the sharp polygons in hair and tails, and the bizarre use of health-depleting cloud around the edges.

The enemy designs range from the above-mentioned beefed-up humanoid Slugmen to long-range spitting Flies, fleas and moles to scorpions. Yet, everything is still grey and muddy. As a villainous force, the slugmen struck me as being incredibly dull. They were just grey-suited, unkempt, and had no personality. I was happy to feed them my cannon. They could have made any grunt in almost any game.

There were some things like that. There was a few things like that. I don't know about you but I think if I was designing an anthro world, the medkits I would use would be made of lichen, or some other material, and called lichen salve. It stood out like an uninspiring thumb.

Get it out

It is easy to deal with enemies. Simply point your right analog stick at them and shoot. Targeting is very reliable and precise. The left side is the target, and you move with the R2 trigger. Hold it down to fire your first shot. You will soon have eight additional weapons that you can experiment with, including a flamethrower and double-barrel shotgun. Clid can carry grenades that he can refill at settlements. Then, your shell is the last weapon in your arsenal. This upgrade includes a missile launcher, a shield, and a crazy ice block that kills all enemies it touches.

Combat is difficult because controls and Clid feel slow. It's almost like he's crawling through molasses all the time. He's a snail but he also has human legs so he should be moving much faster. Your roll move will be used to the fullest extent, but mainly for speeding things up. Enemies are slow, take their shots slow, and react slow when they're surprised. They will just walk up to you and you can simply shoot. I doubt I was even hit by the bosses. It is difficult, especially in the tower defense-type sections, which have too many waves and take away any enjoyment. I often found myself leading my enemies around levels and in circles while shooting them with a lot of holes.

There are many health restores and save/checkpoints available. This means that even if you do get hit, you only need to survive for 2 minutes to reach the next checkpoint.

A stamina gauge controls your run and roll functions. You can't run or roll continuously. It's fine, but it doesn't really serve any purpose. I don't have the ability to shoot and roll so I wouldn't be able to roll continuously. The stamina gauge is a design decision that I don't like. It doesn't balance or add to the gameplay. Is it really necessary to have another obstacle that slows down things?

You'll also be battling enemies. Instead of navigating through a lot of laser and reflection puzzles you will find yourself in a series of 3D Abe Oddysee-style, PS1-era puzzles. You will find a few of these per level. They are not too difficult. You can also collect currency chests to purchase weapon upgrades and locate the maximum health portions at each level. Pretty simple design overall.

Snail's Pace

The music is very gray and unfocused, much like the muddy, dull levels. In level 1, for example, the cutscenes, puzzles and fights are all dominated by a single lute refrain. It was getting really annoying. I wished there was a punch button when I finally found the lutist in square.

The themes are not too varied. There are a few more themes but nothing that will stand out and be something you'll treasure. The sound effects are great, with satisfying meaty sounds to the guns but nothing like the crunch of a Doom shotgun or chainsaw Lancer.

On the PS5, the only issue I had was the Dualsense's ability to charge your weapon and not shoot. This caused me to miss a crucial shot. The very sensitive triggers required that you let go between shots. I didn't notice any adaptive triggers or haptics.

Hero in a Spiral Shell

Clid the Snail, a solid first game by a creative indie company, is now available on PlayStation. It was awarded the PlayStation Talents award. It's unique and tells a good story. You'll be able to play it for 8-10 hours. It is still a very first game. This is evident in the lack of narrative and level design, the simple combat system in a game that needed more challenge and speed, as well as the poor colour choices and music. The same developers can make amazing strides with their next project. This one needed more flavor.

You could add some salt to the mix, but it might have solved Clid's problems.