Catlateral Damage

It’s probably safe to say that Catlateral Damage is a bit like Marmite: you’re either going to love it or hate it. If you’re a cat person, you’ll surely find several hours worth of novelty entertainment here, but otherwise you might just miss the point of the game. It’s not to be taken seriously, and that’s obvious right from booting the game up; from its blocky and over-simplistic graphic style to the plethora of cat-themed puns that you’re ambushed with right from the get-go (the “Paws” menu, for instance). If you have a sense of humour and a bit of time to kill, Catlateral Damage has plenty...

Life as a cat must be pretty sweet; you get to lie down all day, eat food out of a plastic dish, and have someone scoop your poops out of a box. But, whenever things don't go your way then it's time to deliver some kitty justice!

Catlateral Damage isn't a cat simulator, really. It simply takes the shove-things-off-the-ledge aspect of a cat's personality and runs that concept into the ground. Different cats don't do anything different, and different rooms don't feel all that different either. Cute for a little while, and fun for a couple swings, but boredom set in before I'd even unlocked every cat or wrecked every room.

That's right: the cat puns start early. Not even the title of this fur-st purr-son mess-making game was able to escape the witty claws of developer Chris Chung, and his creation is littered with word play (guess what the pause menu is called). Catlateral Damage has been available on the PC for about a year already, so it may be that it's crossed your path before. After a successful Kickstarter and an incredible amount of exposure on YouTube, it's finally made its way onto PlayStation 4 – but is it up to scratch?

The most annoying part of this game is that if it had more varied levels it definitely could have stretched out its already limited enjoyment. The museum and super market levels are stupid enough to actually be somewhat entertaining but you can only get to those levels if a specific item spawns in the level you’re currently in. If you don’t find the item, or it just doesn’t spawn, then you’re stuck going through the exact same house layouts back-to-back. The Steam page touts procedurally generated levels as a major feature but it’s really just the same kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, ...

If you’re feline like this game is a good PURRchase, for its price of $9.99, it’s worth it. What makes it better is that the developer is planning to add expansions soon, and more for a future with virtual reality compatibility. This game is packed with cute kitties and collectibles, it’s purr-fect for cat-lovers out there.