Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy is a brutally difficult physics-based platforming game, but even those without an abiding sense of masochism should give it a try. Chances are that you don't know who Bennett Foddy is, but you may be familiar with his work. He's the infamous creator of QWOP, an eccentric little game from years ago that asks you to perform the simple task of running with the provision that you have to control his legs separately. It was one of the stranger games of the time, and its DNA can be felt squarely in the execution of Getting Over It.

QWOP was as much about wrestling with frustrating control schemes as anything else, and Getting Over It draws deep from that same well. Your avatar is locked in a pot, stripped of his hands and legs and given just a hammer to use to scale obstacles on the map. You'll do a lot of climbing and just as much falling over the course of your time with Getting Over It. This is a merciless game, and it makes few if any provisions for the sake of players. That said, it's a much more methodical and slower paced experience than QWOP was. You control your sledgehammer with the mouse, and success is the result of trial and error as you come to understand how the unresponsive control system works. Generally, working your way to the top of the map requires swinging your hammer in an arc to propel yourself off ledges or dropping it down mid jump to get some extra air like on a pogo stick.

And climbing is all you'll be doing. Rocks, trees, and garbage seem to climb into the sky forever, and a minor error with your controls could send you plummeting halfway back to the beginning. This isn't a game for the easily frustrated.There are no checkpoints, no opportunities to save your game, and no safety mechanics built in. There is, however, an end to it all. The game can be beat, and it requires you to reach the peak of the mountain in one go. Chances are it will take a long time to finally get there, but when you do, you're allowed to join a chat room with other players who have beat the game. It's a strange approach to a game's conclusion, but it matches with the avant-garde tendencies of the developer. This eccentricity is reflected in practically every aspect of the game's presentation. The graphics are strange and barren, and your avatar only vaguely resembles something human. Then there's the soundtrack itself, which consists of Foddy ranting on philosophical topics.

The systems are obtuse, the graphics barren, and Getting Over It is stripped of plot or varied mechanics. But it's still a game well worth checking out. Just be ready to lose your patience quickly.