I have not played all that many puzzle platformers. In fact, I can probably count the number of them I’ve played on one hand. And when it comes to top-down-style puzzle platformers, that number might actually be zero. That said, when I saw that Infinitrap Rehamstered, a top-down-style puzzle platformer, was coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, I admit I was curious.
I was given a review code for Xbox One, so I grabbed my whip, laced up my hiking boots, and set off on a journey of exploration, treasure, and death.
Perhaps the biggest question I had going in was what’s up with the word Rehamstered in the title? I assume it’s a tongue-in-cheek way of shaking up the word remastered to fit the aesthetic or theme of the title. Off the top of my head, the only other game I’ve seen do this is the Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, which is set on Mars. But after having played Infinitrap for about an hour, I still haven’t come across any hamsters in the game.
That being said, for as cute and quirky as Infinitrap is, the controls feel pretty loose and imprecise. Loose enough that it makes accidently falling into pits or veering into oncoming spikes and dying feel a bit outside my control. This is problematic for a game that asks you to perform a number of tasks that require precise navigation. I ended up feeling more frustrated with every accidental death, because those far outweighed the number of times I legitimately died because of an obstacle or enemy. There was one instance where I lost complete control of my character and just sat there as I watched a skeleton go to town on my guy.
That being said, there are numerous aspects of Infinitrap I do find charming. Seeing the corpses of your character from previous failed attempts is a nice touch. If you manage to walk over them, they even make a squishing sound and blood squirts out. And although the music can be grating and repetitive, it’s also got a tinge of the Beverly Hills Cop and Fletch theme songs.
The humor isn’t exactly going to win any awards, but it’s far from intrusive (Immortals Fenyx Rising this is not, thank the gods). The character animations are also quite adorable. The talking heads in the dialogue boxes resemble something from The Ren & Stimpy Show, and the in-game visual style resembles Spelunky a little bit. This latter observation works in the game’s favor, as Infinitrap almost feels like Scary Movie to Spelunky‘s Scream, if that makes any sense.
Thankfully, the charming aspects ultimately outweigh the sometimes aggravating controls, enough that I keep playing despite not totally agreeing with some of the deaths I’ve experienced.
Mostly, though, I think I’ll keep plugging away to make sense of the title, in the hopes that I may one day find out what Rehamstered really means.
