Buck

About

Buck is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Wave Interactive and was released on March 16, 2017. It received positive reviews from players.

"Buck is a single-player fighting game with delightful graphics, where you play as a real-life dog in a Metroidvania-style adventure. Learn about the inspiring canine and other real-life pets of Kickstarter backers. Overall, it offers a unique and charming experience, perfect for dog lovers, and can be completed in approximately 2 hours."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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88%

Audience ScoreBased on 40 reviews

story6 positive mentions

stability3 negative mentions

The game features a beautiful art style and engaging atmosphere that draws players in.
Voice acting and character interactions are well done, adding depth to the story.
The combat mechanics, while needing refinement, offer a fun and challenging experience.

Gameplay suffers from balancing issues, making it difficult to progress without frustration.
Inventory management is cumbersome, with limited slots leading to frequent item drops.
The game has been criticized for being abandoned with no updates, leading to concerns about its future.

story
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
59%
14%
The game's story has garnered mixed reviews, with many players praising its intriguing narrative and character depth, particularly in the context of a post-apocalyptic setting. While some find the voice acting and dialogue lacking at times, others appreciate the engaging plot and character interactions that keep them invested. Overall, the story is seen as a strong aspect of the game, though it could benefit from further refinement and polish.
- “When traveling to different locations, you'll encounter a lot of interesting characters, some of them just there for the sake of giving the game more depth, many NPCs for subquests, and others further developing the main story of the game.”
- “The story is well driven, and the characters are all fitting, if not slightly exaggerated in their characterization.”
- “Love this game, the art style is amazing, the fighting mechanic feels tight and strong, and the story is amazing.”
- “For an indie game, I can't remember the last time the voice acting (if even present) drew me into a story.”
- “I decided to abandon this game when, after time playing, I was stuck in a loop, impossible to win, impossible to come back home to finish the mission.”
- “While, as I said, the story could be better, it is however intriguing and does keep you engaged overall; it is just that at times it seems cliché and uninspiring.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
47%
16%
Gameplay reviews are mixed, with some players praising the engaging combat mechanics and crafting system that adds depth to the experience, while others criticize its difficulty and accessibility issues. The art style and atmosphere receive high marks, but the overall gameplay is seen as inconsistent, with some finding it addictive and others feeling it detracts from the experience. Despite these disparities, many agree that the combat can be enjoyable and challenging once players adapt to its mechanics.
- “The crafting mechanic of the game is neat and fun to play with; scavenging for supplies makes what at first seems like mindless beat-em-up brawling more high stakes, requiring more finesse, skill, and strategy as you progress in order to defeat your enemies without being defeated yourself.”
- “Love this game! The art style is amazing, the fighting mechanics feel tight and strong, and the story is fantastic.”
- “Lets talk about the gameplay: it's very good! I love the combat and the different moves Buck can do. You can dodge, kick, punch, use a shotgun, craft items, and loot enemies, which becomes very handy. The gameplay starts teaching you the controls, and you think 'meh,' then the game increases its difficulty by throwing different enemies in different directions, causing you to use all of Buck's moves!”
- “Very hard to get into as the gameplay drops the ball and makes it very difficult to continue even with such an engaging world.”
- “Bucks combat is clearly made to be unforgiving, and yet as it stands, a little mechanics abuse actually makes fighting very easy in most cases.”
- “The gameplay is really disappointing.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
81%
6%
13%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful art style, intriguing atmosphere, and impressive environments. While the visuals are often described as stunning and fitting for the game's theme, some players note issues with visibility and clunky gameplay that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the artistic presentation and voice acting are highlighted as standout features, contributing to a generally positive reception.
- “The graphics and art style are simply beautiful and fit very well.”
- “Love the artistic cartoon style graphics.”
- “Highly recommended, fun game with interesting brawler combat mechanics, beautiful graphics, and a great apocalyptic atmosphere.”
- “Every now and again, however, even with my brightness turned up high on my laptop, the visuals seem to fade into dark values a little too much, making it hard to focus on whenever the character travels from place to place.”
- “Not for me, and I can't recommend it in its current state either. I love the graphics and the trailer, but that's unfortunately all...”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
34%
22%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its fantastic ambiance, blending intriguing art style with a dark, post-apocalyptic setting that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate how the atmospheric elements, including background music and visual design, create an engaging environment that complements the addictive gameplay. Despite initial skepticism, many found the atmosphere unexpectedly immersive, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The art style is interesting, the atmosphere is intriguing, and the gameplay is addicting sidescrolling brawling.”
- “Highly recommended, fun game with interesting brawler combat mechanics, beautiful graphics, and a great apocalyptic atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere at times also gets a little dark when you see dead bodies piled up. I did not expect to feel any type of atmosphere with this game, but weirdly there is, and it just makes the game that little bit more awesome.”
- “The world's atmosphere and background music really bind everything together nicely.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The music in the game is praised for its rich and immersive quality, complementing the graphical art and enhancing the overall atmosphere. Reviewers appreciate the well-suited soundtrack that aligns with the gameplay, though some suggest that maintaining the background music in the menu could further enhance the immersive experience. Overall, the music effectively binds the game's environment together.
- “The music and graphical art are wonderful.”
- “It has a rich environment, a well-suited soundtrack, and delightful gameplay mechanics.”
- “The world's atmosphere and background music really bind everything together nicely.”
- “The background music of the current location should continue playing in the menu screen to maintain the immersive environment that Buck is in at the moment.”
- “The music feels repetitive and lacks variety, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
- “The sound effects are poorly balanced with the music, often drowning out important audio cues.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits some minor stability issues, including animation glitches and buggy controls, which are typical for an early access title. While these problems may detract from the overall experience, they are not considered major hindrances, and players remain optimistic that improvements will be made in future updates.
- “The voice acting and dialogue could be a bit better, and the controls can be buggy (but it's early access, so I think it's fair to assume that will be fixed in due time), and the story -- while interesting -- could be more engaging.”
- “This game isn't perfect (and in its current state, a bit buggy, which is to be expected), but it is loads of fun and quite enjoyable to play.”
- “There are some minor animation glitches when moving from one idle animation to the other; not sure if there is much to do about that, but it isn't a big deal.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that the game incorporates grinding elements through revisiting previous areas to loot enemies and gather resources, which are essential for crafting new items. This mechanic adds depth to the 2D brawler experience while intertwining it with a narrative.
- “Now, what I mean by grinding is that you travel back to areas you've been to, just for the looting from foes and staged away throughout the areas, so that you may craft new items from all the scavenging and looting.”
- “It is mainly a 2D brawler with grinding features and an actual story.”