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Cheap Thrills: Coma Is Like Limbo on Flash

Cheap Thrills is a column by Chris Gampat reviewing affordable (under $20) or free games for the recession.

Coma is a free flash game where the player must accomplish certain tasks to finally wake themselves out of a coma and escape the dreamworld. Remember that very-creepy-but-addicting-nontheless game called Limbo for XBLA? Well, Coma will remind players much of that game. Granted, there are differences—but the core gameplay is still quite similar and players will encounter similarly creepy events without the simplistic but brutal violence that players experienced in Limbo.

Story

The ultimate point of Coma is to find a way out of the dreamworld and to awaken the protagonist, Pete, whose avatar will be under control of players. To do this, one needs to ring the doorbell—which is a recurring theme throughout the game that will leave players very puzzled. To accomplish this goal, a number of tasks need to be completed first: the most immediate of which is to rescue your sister because your abusive father has locked her in the basement of your house. This part essentially establishes a sense of moral obligation for the player.

To do this, you free a little bird that helps you out by carrying special items for you like a lamp and a little golden orb. The two of you are constant companions throughout the game.

Accomplishing the tasks will take you all around the dreamworld—from the brightest and most serene areas to beautifully gothic forests and dungeons that look like the world of Shel Silverstein gone awry.

Gameplay

Coma has an extremely simplistic yet extremely addicting gameplay factor that blends will with the ultimate goal of waking up Pete and rescuing his sister. Players will basically be making Pete run around, jump, and interact with objects here and there. However, getting through some of the puzzles will be some of the best parts of the game.

There is a lot of running around from area to area involved in order to accomplish goals. This isn't all that bad though considering that the areas are very small and that jumping while running will allow players to get Pete to his destination much faster than just running.

Pete will encounter many different characters in the game who will give him these tasks. One of which involves investigation into what is clogging a drain, running back to your father for a fishing hook, and unclogging the drain.

Coma is an extremely forgiving game in that the player will never die but will have to overcome their own fears in this little 2D world. For example, Pete will encounter a gigantic worm in the Silver Tunnels and will have to make the journey into it.

The overall game is very short and can be completed in the equivalent time of a lunch break at work. The addition of Flash to Android devices like the Droid, Nexus One, Droid Incredible, and the EVO will give mobile gamers a great experience.

Graphics

The graphics are nothing extremely special—the same way that Limbo was. However, Coma's graphics involve a generous amount more color. The way that the environment responds to your movements is also very nice.

Don't expect a whole load of wonderful looks from the characters that you interact with either with the exception of the mother and the giant worm. Everything and everyone is nearly just a dark shadow created to represent themselves in the dreamworld.

To be fair, the levels of shading are terrifically blended to work with each environment you go to. This is most evident where the dark areas meets the bright.

The graphics towards the very end of the game become even more dark and grotesque. I won't spoil it for you, but know that mild amounts of your internal organs will be involved.

Sound

The combination of music and silence in Coma works very well for the variety of areas that the game tries to cover. The only peeve I've got with it is that the characters have weird voices and interaction sounds that I wouldn't have chosen if I were the game's creator. That said, it is evident that the level of effort put into sound was lower than that put into the gameplay factor. The sound isn't horrible at all—it could just use some polish.

Controls

The controls, like the gameplay (minus some of the puzzles) is simple. The arrow keys help the player to navigate Pete around. However, the mouse will also help with areas that involve conversation or interacting with objects.

You'll know it when you see them.

Rating

Overall, Coma is one of the best flash games I've played in a while. For the past month, I've felt that there weren't very much of them out there that were very good or worth playing over and over again. Even though the replayability for a game like this is very low, I find myself coming back to it for the sheer experience that one gets when playing the game. It's fun and involves some great thrills at times.

If you've got a game that you'd love me to review for Cheap Thrills, shoot me an email at ChrisGampat[at]gmail[dot]com