Space Farmers Review

After having seen this quirky little indie title showcased at The Gadget Show Live 2014, I excitedly awaited the moment I could get my hands on it, only to be slightly disappointed the moment I did.

Let’s begin with what needs to be addressed - Space Farmers is an online co-op only game (with promises of split-screen mode to be introduced shortly) so you’ll need to find a friend to fight your way through levels with or throw yourself into the deep scary world of playing online co-op with a complete stranger. As you can probably imagine, without convincing a friend to also purchase the title, it can be a disappointingly difficult process trying to find a game partner.

On to the actual gameplay, once you’ve successfully landed yourself into a game, you get to customise your character: you’re given the option to chose from a set of pre-made cube-shaped characters and various accessories, some of which require buying with in-game currency, otherwise known as turnips (collected on each level). Though there aren’t too many customisation options, I feel it’s quite unnecessary as the main objective here is to jump in and play.



You’re launched into your first level which inevitably takes place in a spaceship (much like all the others) and tasked with fighting off strange bug-like animals, turrets in a similar style to those found in Portal, mechanical spiders and various other enemies. To do this, both of the players take an object (usually a gun) which is used to complete the tasks set out in each level and operated by using either the left or right mouse button, while moving your character around uses your standard WASD keys. Some include one player throwing a bomb while the other detonates it, one player standing on the button to set off a moving platform, and other jobs that use the co-op feature well and successfully make the game pretty fun.

The one and only downside to the co-op gameplay is that if one of you should die in a tragic accident, you’re both sent straight back to the beginning of the level, despite how many turrets or enemies you’ve killed and how much time you’ve put into getting as far as you possibly could. Though some may see this a feature that gives the game an element of challenge as Space Farmers does suffer from a lack of difficulty and is simple enough to complete levels with no mishaps in just a few minutes.


Unfortunately this is where my fun experience with the game comes to an end, after around ten minutes Space Farmers became a mere annoyance to play as the lag between the two players made the game more or less unplayable in certain areas as the actions of one player relied heavily on the others. For example: my game partner wasn’t able to make a move for a good 20 seconds whilst he waited for the turret I had just killed to die on his screen, and obviously this hindered my gameplay experience a fair amount in a game in which the main purpose is good teamwork and communication.

Other than the few bugs and issues that give the game a slightly unfinished feel both in the game and in the match-finding area - there isn’t much to complain about, but having said that, there isn’t much to write home about either.

Space Farmers has a vivid cartoon-like art style which works well for an up-beat game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with an intensifying and fitting soundtrack all rounding off nicely to make a co-op title best played with a friend in short bursts.