Sludge Life Review

Embracing an Artform-A Sludge Life Review

Sludge Life is the premier example of what many describe to be "games as art." Whereas other titles seek to enthrall a player through course and gameplay challenges, Sludge Life comes off more as an interactive exploration through a mind museum. What results is a beautiful, yet equally bizarre creation that I can't say I have ever seen before. 

Exploration and Degradation

In Sludge Life you control the silent protagonist Ghost, who seeks to up his rep by tagging graffiti whenever possible. Following a mass workers strike that has left the streets free from policing due to the actions of megacorporation GumCo, Ghost is free to plaster his tags wherever he wants without consequence. What entails is an enthralling 3 hours of scouring around this wasteland finding the most hidden and lucrative 100 spots to deface with your art. 


The game's setting is quite possibly its biggest attraction. This cobbled together batch of buildings and scaffoldings lies on top of a huge ocean of waste, and with a combination of VHS filters and pixilation it feels like it popped right out from a PS1. 
Climbing up large pieces of rubble to be greeted with new tag spots and more insane characters was a treat. To be honest I spent a vast majority of my game time just looking at random monoliths and finding a way to climb up the thing. There's hardly words to describe scoping out a huge skyscraper and then 15 minutes later standing at its peak overlooking the vast haze of pollution in the city. In a sense, Sludge Life's often slimy and nasty setting brings with it a blunt and beautiful charm. 
Sludge Life can, at times, feel like a deep dive into the surrounding culture of graffiti artists. In its own nonconforming way, you'll witness people suffering through minimum wage jobs, doing drugs, existentially musing, and so much more. In the realm of absurdist expressions of the real hardships of life, no better will you find an example than in Sludge Life. 
Having gotten all three endings and found every tag spot, I'd say there is plenty of content here for the average player. However, and I keep this criticism here to be bluntly honest like this game, the price did seem a bit steep for what's here. If you have the means to pay $15 USD for Sludge Life, do not hesitate to take a chance on what has been one of the most inventive creative expressions of the past decade.

Verdict

Sludge Life is one of those one in a million pieces of art. IT presents such a brash and crude reflection of the world, and yet it never feels pompous. By staying grounded through thoughtful exploration, this bite sized package of joy kept me wholly enthralled throughout. A must play for sure. 

9.5/10-Absurdist Excellence 





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