Online game "Super Animal Royale"

Among the many "battle royale" games, this one stands apart. There are no scenes of cruelty, no pools of blood at the shooting scenes, the matches are always very short, and the characters are cartoon animals of various kinds: kittens, foxes, dogs, bears, pigs and other drawn creatures. At the same time, despite the naive style and top view, all the features of the genre are represented here. There is a landing of participants on the map, and transportation, and a narrowing circle, limiting the battlefield, and gadgets like first aid kits, traps or mines. In addition, the action game is available for free on Steam - it's time to find out what else it is remarkable for.

The first thing you notice is that you can do without creating an account. You will need it if you plan to play on several devices in turn - for example, at home on your PC, and when traveling on your smartphone. But if you play on one PC only, you can skip the account creation stage, and Super Animal Royale will pull all the necessary data from Steam. Then we get to the menu, from where you can access the list of regular and regular tasks, the content of the battle pass, character appearance settings and the laboratory for creating heroes. The developers didn't trifle with the appearance editor. In addition to the four starting types of animals (fox, cat, tiger and bear) there is a rich choice of accessories and movements. You can make a bear cub with a false beard, a red bow tie and pink grenade explosions.

However, customization does not affect the combat characteristics. The characters in the game are funny, but the rules are very serious - like in the best "battle royales". Initially, the participants of the match are equal to each other, no one has neither weapons nor equipment. You get to the starting location, where you can stretch your legs, ride an ostrich or a hamster ball, and tumble once or twice, waiting for the other participants to join the battle. A total of 64 heroes can get on the map. Considering the modest size of the location, it's quite a crowd - and the fights at the beginning of the party are quite intense. After a short preparation, the stopwatch reaches zero - and a giant eagle with a cabin on its back takes the animals, like Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, to the battlefield.

During the flight it is not unreasonable to open the map, choose a landing place, and then land using an umbrella instead of a parachute. While the character is falling, you can "steer" him to jump in the intended point, just like in PUBG. Combat takes place on the territory of an abandoned safari park, where there are glades, themed pavilions, cafes, hotels, farms and other attractions. There are interactive objects too: nothing prevents you from running an animatronics show on stage. There are supplies scattered everywhere - first aid kits, armor, guns, ammo. Somewhere to get an item you need to break a box or open a chest, and somewhere - go ahead and take it. But you should not forget about your rivals, who also rush to the weapon to intercept the initiative. At first, close combat skills and acrobatics like somersaults come in handy.

Emus as riding animals and hamster spheres allow you to move quickly across the terrain - if you get into one of them, it will not only roll in the right direction, but also give some protection. However, to take the fight, you still need to get off the ostrich or climb out of the plastic sphere. And speaking as a squad of up to four characters with these ways of riding is not particularly fast, because all the "transportation" is single-seat. You should also keep in mind that the riding animals, unlike the hero under your control, can not jump over even small obstacles. In general, ride only on the roads, and this, as any fan of "Battle Royales" knows, a direct path to an ambush. You have to act in accordance with the local "law of the jungle": go quieter - farther away.

Of course, the fight is fought to the last survivor. And the space for the characters' activity gradually narrows under the influence of skunk gas. If at first the whole park is open for landing and fighting, then in time the battlefield becomes crowded, and shootouts become as active as possible. It's not so easy to catch the enemy on the fly here, because he is visible when he is in direct line of sight, but if he hides behind some barrel or wall, he will disappear at once. In addition, the animals are made skittish - all of them can jump and somersault like real ninjas. Grenades with the same skunk gas, mines that trigger when the enemy approaches, and various objects of the environment are also useful. Banana, for example, will make your pursuer slip. In a difficult moment, it's not so much your marksmanship that helps, but your talent for improvisation.

The TTK (time to kill) parameter here, by the way, is perfect - better than in PUBG or Call of Duty. Three or four shots from any gun and it's done. Not much or nothing, but just in time. Lost your hero in a fight? No problem: you can go straight to the next fight (the waiting time for the match is quite short) or turn on the observation mode to see what will happen next. For a newcomer, observation is like a master class, as you can see at a glance what guns and techniques are used by more experienced gamers, how they heal and move around the map. This is especially useful due to the lack of a training mode in the game. You need to learn all its subtleties either on your own or on someone else's example. However, if you think about it, there are not so many subtleties - even a child can easily grasp them.

Upgrading in Super Animal Royale is divided into two parts: improving the hero during the match and between battles. Let's start with the first one. While flying on the umbrella you can look under the roofs of buildings, as if shining them with X-ray vision to notice the items lying inside. The landing point is very important, because it gives the equipment for the debut. Weapons are the basis of equipment. There are pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, rifles, sniper guns, bows and darts that ignore armor. You can pick up a bazooka that shoots chickens or a crossbow to bombard enemies with rabbits. The assortment of cold weapons, from katana to lollipop on a stick, is also made with a fair amount of imagination.

The rest of the items play an auxiliary, but not minor role. We are talking about mines, grenades, armor and medicines. In principle, you can heal with berries, and wounds can be covered with scotch tape. To survive longer in a cloud of skunk gas, you will need a breathing tube and special claws - you know the expression "to tear claws" meaning "to run away quickly from somewhere"? In the game, this phrase is realized literally. Padded ears, tails, collars - there is nothing here, and each object has its own function. With the help of banana and explosives you can set a trap for the enemy, interactive environment allows you to distract the enemy. Protection is also organized in a mature way: there are vests of different levels and helmets. Ideally, you should be fully equipped by the last third of the battle, otherwise the final match will be very hard.

But the harder the fight, the sweeter the victory. For the first triumph you get some virtual currency (Carl's coins), DNA points and a trophy - a small golden crown, which you can then put on any of the animals under your control. Here it turns out that absolutely all the pumping between battles is reduced to customizing the appearance of characters. There are no enhancements to combat characteristics - just hats, glasses, ties, dances and the like. Getting these items is helped by "Trials", that is, tasks that must be completed to get a prize. For example, if you want your bear to run in a cork helmet, you can run 100 kilometers across the map during fights. Need a colorful t-shirt? Drink healing juice more often. Like the green tie? Eliminate ten opponents and it's yours. Not to mention pets: the hero can be followed by a smaller animal - a Mini-Tiger or a Mini-Raccoon.

DNA obtained in battles allows you to grow new heroes in the Laboratory. To get to it, just go to the main menu and go to the office of the smart dog with glasses. Mixing genes with a special serum opens up a lot of combinations in addition to the four animals you are given at the start. And it concerns not only biological species, such as ducks, crocodiles, pigs, dragons and horses, but also colors - you can create in vitro green, yellow, blue and red bears, even lilac. Got the right creature? Now you can dress it up using trophy items and accessories bought for Carl's coins in a local shop. For real money, which is also noteworthy, you can get exactly the same appearance changes. They will make the hero stand out from his rivals, but will not bring you closer to victory over them.

Super Animal Royale is able to fascinate even an adult, but in fact it is a great way to keep kids busy for an hour or two. They won't see any violence or blood, but they will enjoy the fun music, colorful 2D graphics and funny animals, reminiscent of "Smeshariki". Controls are simple, matches are short, and in addition, the game is available for free and does not require registration. You can download it to several devices at once, including PC, smartphone and tablet, and you will already have a squad. At the same time, the entertainment does not require powerful graphics cards - even outdated hardware will suffice. Pixile studio released this action movie back in the summer of 2021, but the servers are always full of people, so you won't have to wait for the match to start because of the lack of participants. This is a living proof of the saying "Everything is simple".

Zarium. April 2024