Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest

"I've never enjoyed being called a piggy until now."

This is a truly unique game. It's completely different than ANYTHING else on the GameCube... or any system right now, for that matter. You take on the role of a cube with a thin piece of something called ''meat'' attached to your backside. You use this ''meat'' to roam around this square world.

Graphics 8/10: This is the area where the game lacks. But that's fine to me, because it fits the feel of the game. This game is called cubivore, would it really make sense if everything were made of.. oh, say.. triangles? The graphics are simple, but they represent things well enough to know what is going on. The textures are not amazingly detailed, but it is still gorgeous. When you jump into water, you see a cascade of square ripples moving away from your position. They aren't the best graphics you'll see on the GameCube, but dont let the graphics be the selling point of this game. If you dont get this just because it's simplisticly made, then you are missing out on a lot

Sound 9/10: Cute little songs play on all the levels. They are very light, happy tunes. Nothing special. They wont have you humming them in your head all day long, heck, you probably wont remember them that long (I know I dont) but they fit the atmosphere of the game.
When you get into a boss battle, the music takes a turn for the menacing, but even then, the music is about as menacing as a glass of water is spicy.
I like the music. Like I said before, it fits. Anyone expecting a digitally rendered masterpiece wont be satisfied, but it's not bad music.

Controls 10/10: The controls all fit perfectly. You catch on quickly. When you have a new move to learn, the game eases you into it well. Everything is very simple. L locks you on to an enemy, and hitting A attacks. One thing a lot of people find very funny is that this is the only game that has a ''crap'' button. You can poop out certain colors of meat if you dont like them. Rather funny. Your little cube is kind of confused when he first takes a number two, too.

Gameplay 10/10: This style of play is really refreshing. It's very new. You go around, eating other animals and mutating by eating certain combinations of meat. Your goal is to attain 100 mutations and become King Cubivore. In each new level, you have the option(and actually, it's pretty mandatory) to mate. Depending on how many mutations you have done, you will get a different number of potential mates. When you mate, you get a child whom you will then inhabit. The father dies and you continue life as the newborn. Every time you mate, you gain an extra piece of meat.

Overall 8/10: The biggest flaw in this game is the graphics, and even though I'm taking points off for it, it's still perfectly great. On the subject of buying or renting.. you may want to rent it. This is a really different kind of game, and that may not appeal to everyone. But I assure you, that if you have an open mind, and you want something different amongst all the shoot-em-ups and FPS's, then this is for you.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/02, Updated 12/29/02