Indie Corner: Seum

What if Clustertruck and Brütal Legend had a baby?

Seum is a first person, platformer/speed run game where you obviously have to complete a level as fast as possible. As a proud metalhead I had to play this game with an amazing soundtrack which involves screeching guitars, heavy basses and pounding drums.

You start off with a little intro to the main character and the plot. Like every game that wants to appeal to the metal subculture, it is already gory.

So the plot of the game is that Satan himself came to steal your beer and now you are going to hell to take it back, taking his arm in the process. It is a story that could perfectly fit on a festival terrain. Where you try to find the dude that stole your beer.

So the basic premise of the game is to complete the levels as fast as possible. Throughout the game, you get various power-ups. For instance, one where you can shift gravity so you can levitate. Which you will need in that level.

You have different “achievements”. You can just finish the level or you can dominate it. Well of course when you hear heavy metal in the background while you are reading you only “finished” the level you want more. And that is something the game does so well. You just WANT to be #1. And it is only a matter of milliseconds. Like I am four-hundredth on the leaderboard with just 0.5 seconds apart with the first. You would think it is easy and a perfect run would fix it, but it is a big difference to make. (note the highest I got on a level was 70. Pretty proud of that 😉 )

Another nice thing is that you can watch the replays of the ones that went before you. So when you are thinking how the hell that dude needed 1 second while you needed 5, you can see it. And let me tell you that there are A LOT of cheaters. Well not really cheaters but they play the game in a way they shouldn’t. But hey they are very smart to be fair. So a tip of the beanie to you guys.

There are also collectibles in this game. Funny thing in a game that is built around speed, I know. But the collectibles are beer. So it is alright.

I want to draw some parallels to the last game I reviewed. Last time I reviewed THOTH. These are similar games but with the difference that Seum doesn’t try to be as minimal as possible. I think this game can hold your attention for a longer time. THOTH only had the gameplay that kept you there, while Seum has the graphics, the music, the gameplay and is much more fast paced. Also, Seum kept it more lightly. There are also various references to things like Harry Potter or Mortal Kombat.

Even though I think mouse and keyboard fit this game better, I first tried playing with a controller. And that was really bad. But even I got the hang of it, So I really recommend it. The downside to this is that if you play on a laptop,  your computer will get sweat all over it. At least if you are like me and you get sweaty palms already from playing Zoo Tycoon.

Also, this game has a few other things to discover. Not only do you have story mode but you also have endless mode. Which for me is the best of all. You can try to run on an endless parcour as far as possible. Maybe you can try taking on the record of a kilometer? (it is more than a kilometer at the point of writing this) But don’t be fooled, the levels are randomly generated so no you can’t “unfair Sonic” your way out of this when you know where the dangers of the level lie. You also have the speedrun mode which speaks for itself.

Normally I hate these kinds of games where you have a ranking and try to be the best. But I like this game so much. Mainly because it is fair and very fast paced. So you can try again instantly and aim for the top. It is so satisfying to see how far you can reach. So obviously this game is perfect for metalheads. If you don’t like metal this game is really not for you because the gameplay is so saturated with metal culture. You don’t necessarily have to be a metalhead to like this game, but you sure will have a good time if you do. The music just makes the game 10 times more epic!

Score: 4 out of 5