Mr Prepper – Review

Life is good in Murricaville as long as you sing along to the western values, but our protagonist isn’t so keen on the recent change of government and decides it’s time to move on. Unfortunately, he’s captured, returned home, and his driving license revoked and placed on probation with strict instructions to stay-put by a shady agent dressed in a black suit.

Now labelled Mr Prepper, it’s up to you to survive, craft and eventually escape to your freedom, while building a secret underground bunker to evade future inspections by our agent friend, but you’ll need to gather resources and get used to using the workbench in your back garden in order to survive the thrills of this beautiful town.

It’s fair to say the story doesn’t start off the strongest, I think most of us have been pissed off with life and our governments from time to time, but so far I haven’t dug an underground bunker, but becoming a prepper is something I could jump on board for, if there was strong enough evidence of a forthcoming global event that might require it (yeah, I know by that point it’d be too late, but I’m never “that” pessimistic.
My point is, a small Youtube style conspiracy video at the start, maybe about a local laboratory running tests on dangerous pathogens, could have set us up for something far more intriguing, while giving Mr Prepper perfect reason to want to jump ship (and the government wanting to contain residents) while giving a perfect reason to start prepping for the worst.
It’s not to say Mr Prepper isn’t a good storyline and it does evolve, but in two minutes, I’ve managed to intrigue myself into a made-up storyline, far more that I have been with Mr Preppers intro.

Moving past the beginning, you’ll find Mr Prepper plays as a mix between a 2D-point and click adventure, mixed with The Sims style life-management, with crafting and survival elements from dozens and dozens of games we could mention.

It’s a fairly unique mix which takes me way back to the Commodore 64 and “Little Computer People” which has a similar 2D point and click life-management system and while I never quite felt at home with the menu system, it does the required job, however beside the sometimes overcomplicated menu’s a fairly sluggish speed and a lot of backtracking, I never found myself as engrossed in the game as I maybe could have been with a better introduction and a slightly more captivating reason to prep for the future.

Visually the screenshots explain most of what’s on offer, with well detailed surroundings and items, resources and useful objects can all be highlighted as you move the cursor over them.
There’s nothing that’s going to caress your eyeballs, but it’s often slightly above average for the genre.
Sound is a little more average with a fairly repetitive music track in the background only broken up by the sounds and effects of performing actions, unlike the graphics though, there’s never a point it really feels any more than average at best.

Progressing further into Mr Prepper, you do start to get a little more backstory, which doesn’t stray too far from my own imagination, but I just wish it was delivered more directly from the start. You are forced down a fairly linear path, while you can build, craft and “survive” in any creative manner you want, actual progression is limited by the weekly check-ups, strict time restraints and eventually your income and resources which at time feel a little harsh, for what could have been a far more open (and for me pleasant) experience.

Thankfully there is a creative mode, which allows unlimited resources and a far simpler foray into the world of prepping for a potential World War 3, but I still found myself struggling with menus time and time again.

Initially released 3 years ago on PC, it’s obviously taken some time to arrange the port to consoles, and while they’ve done a fairly good job of the source material, it’s just proven a little too much with the control scheme, which maybe stopped me getting as engrossed in the game as I easily could have.

The real positive is, at only £12 (and currently on sale for just over £5) it’s far easier to recommend.
I’ve played many games which are no more entertaining and cost twice as much, so for me the value is really the saving grace and will deservedly pull a few extra faces that might otherwise overlook the more mundane exterior. The real quest for survival is getting familiar with and accepting the control system and delivery.

Mr Prepper has quite a defined pace, with an awkward control system, if you can move beyond those it’s great value, but PC players might be better off sticking with the PC release from 3 years ago.

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