GameCentral reviews a new local co-op game that takes inspiration from Overcooked’s manic chefs and sees how they’d work in a repair shop.
One of the best aspects of Nintendo’s Switch is that while it can run big, heavyweight games like Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom it also, to an extent, channels the playfulness and frivolity of the Wii, the console that brought gaming to a whole new casual audience. That doesn’t always work out for the best, as seen with the peculiar Everybody 1-2-Switch, but either way the Switch is the undisputed party-gaming king.
Manic Mechanics, created by Scottish developer 4J Studios – which rose to fame by porting Minecraft to consoles – unashamedly seeks to mine the Switch’s party-gaming potential for all it’s worth. Although you can play it solo, and it’s still fun, it’s primarily designed to be played by two to four people co-operatively, either locally or online.
It’s easy enough to describe: its gameplay is essentially that of Overcooked, except rather than taking place in kitchens, it’s enacted in car repair garages – with car parts taking the place of food ingredients. So, you and your co-op mates must pick prescribed car parts off conveyor belts, fix them and then fit them, as quickly (and, inevitably, manically) as possible.
So, you might have to take doors or spoilers to the paint station, or exhaust pipes and engines to the mechanical station. Tyres must be inflated, on a tyre inflation station, and each item of equipment you use has a subtly different button-pressing mini-game. All pretty simple, but the chaos quickly ramps up.
Before long, you have two cars to work on at the same time and all manner of hazards start creeping into your virtual workplace, ranging from the garage owner throwing paint at you, which renders the floor slippery (you can pick up and wield mops and fire extinguishers), to areas which periodically become electrified or fill with lava, and even the occasional alien invasion.
Manic Mechanics has a board game-like hub screen, full of cute little Easter eggs that open up new characters and which is dotted with hard-to-reach cogs. Cogs are essentially the game’s currency and, depending on your performance, you can earn up to three at each garage. These can then be used to open new areas and from there new garages – so it’s not enough to just beat a level, you’ve got to do reasonably well at it too.
And that’s where it becomes obvious that the game is best balanced for two to four players: even in the easiest garages, it’s tricky to earn three cogs when you play solo and in the more elaborate garages where, for example, you might encounter two assembly lines, it’s pretty much impossible to do more than scratch the surface of your assigned tasks within the four minute time limit for each play session, without at least one co-op companion.
The amount of fun that the game delivers rises exponentially when you find a co-op companion or two, and when there are four of you playing all sorts of possibilities arise in which you can mess up the other players, either intentionally or not. Manic Mechanics’ attention to detail is impressive, and often leads to comic scenarios. If you over-inflate tyres, they’ll shoot off the inflator and bounce around the garage and if fuses are left too long in their chargers they will explode. Manic Mechanics’ garages are hilariously dangerous places to work.
You soon learn to master time-saving techniques, such as chucking parts at their appropriate workstations or the cars themselves. You’ll also discover that if you concentrate on a particular task it can greatly assist the rest of your team. Sometimes you get lucky: occasional the conveyor belt of parts throws up finished parts (denoted by a white glow), which can be the key to finishing an extra car before your time runs out.
4J Studios has worked hard to stop Manic Mechanics’ gameplay from becoming samey, finding some clever ways to increase the complexity of the tasks you must perform in its more elaborate garages. This includes introducing electrification; to make an electric engine, for example, you must charge a fuse, put it in an electrification station, then add an engine. Which is a lengthy process unless you and your fellow players collaborate effectively.
Thanks to its co-op-centric design, cartoonish vibe, and bite-sized play sessions, which introduce extra jeopardy as the clock ticks down, Manic Mechanics is the perfect game to have knocking around on your Switch in case of, say, a post-pub party gaming session. It’s kid-friendly too, offering an ideal means of keeping a group of youngsters occupied for a considerable period.
Manic Mechanics is pretty throwaway stuff, but it is a reminder that it’s really only the Switch that encourages and promotes these sort of local co-op games, which are a dying breed despite them being some of the most entertaining multiplayer action a console can offer.
Manic Mechanics review summary
In Short: Classic co-op party-gaming fare that’s unpretentious and very quick to pick up. It may be just a little too similar to Overcooked. but given how rare local co-op games are this is a welcome riff on a familiar theme.
Pros: Fun, cute and family vibe, that’s prefect as a party icebreaker. Cleverly adds complexity that ramps up the need to co-operate with other players. Easy to grasp but trickier to master.
Cons: Playable but not at its best when tackled solo. Not the most substantial or original of games.
Score: 7/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch
Price: £19.99
Publisher: 4J Studios
Developer: 4J Studios
Release Date: 13th July 2023
Age Rating: 3
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