Bunker: The Underground Game Review

When I first saw Batman Begins in theaters, I walked away with more questions than answers. "Why did Batman let Ra's al Ghul die? Was the late mastermind's plan a sincere attempt to better the world?" My young mind was addled with questions and ultimately that film helped me see the world not as black and white or good and bad, but as a messy rainbow of grey. Even outside of the realm of morality and in the world of gaming, finding a shining example of complete mastery or total incompetence is nearly impossible. That is why it was an honor to review Bunker-The Underground Game. Finding such a complete disaster is like riding a unicorn - albeit one that drunkenly weaves and occasionally nips at one's fingers.

Bunker is a low-budget point-and-click adventure that hopes to make up for its Newgrounds-esque visuals with quirky dialogue and a hilarious story. Fortunately for the developers, I can easily overlook low-fi graphics. Unfortunately for them, I have zero tolerance for half-assed writing. Bunker attempts humor in almost every scene that Otto, the main character, walks through. Most of the jokes he cracks are references to video games and pop culture. "Me gusta", a medkit from Left 4 Dead, and even an impromptu rendition of Who Let the Dogs Out? are all presented as though they are funny by default. They aren't. Playing Bunker was like looking at a storyboard for Family Guy: references to anything and everything abound, but there's no context or subtlety to make it funny. The game is only truly funny when the developers get original and throw fantastical situations at Otto, but there are only a handful of those scenarios and I don't want to spoil what little this game has going for it.

Gameplay consists of navigating Otto around an old Soviet-era bunker and solving puzzles that range from overly simplistic to needlessly obscure, harkening back to the days of pixel hunting. I would end my analysis of gameplay there if it weren't for the bugs that kept popping up at the most inconvenient moments. Whenever I attempted to take a screenshot, Otto would teleport to the left or right, don a gas mask, and then refuse to leave the area. Perhaps he's camera shy. "Finally, I'm out!" Otto exclaims as I direct him to the men's bathroom, his line perpetually affixed to the top of his beanie. When the time comes for more of his commentary, he simply superimposes it over the reminder that he is, in fact, finally out. This creates a garbled mix of white letters that is nearly illegible. I restarted the game twice from an old save file because of these bugs and then gave up on completing it when they kept coming up. I had seen enough.

Even without game breaking bugs, Bunker-The Underground Game is the kind of game I would only wish on the most rabid adventure game junkie. It is memorable only in that it is a horrendous combination of bland and frustrating.

Cons:
Buggy

Unimaginative references

Hit or miss jokes

Boring puzzles

Pros:
A few moments of genuine humor