Clive 'N' Wrench

52%
Game Brain Score Based on 163 reviews
  • music
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Clive 'N' Wrench Game Cover
Clive 'N' Wrench probably won't set your world on fire, but it's an enjoyable enough 3D platformer with plenty of colourful doodads to collect.
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Clive 'N' Wrench is a 3D platformer game featuring a rabbit and monkey duo on a time-traveling adventure. Traverse through various historical eras and creative worlds, solving puzzles and battling enemies. With witty dialogue, charming characters, and a dynamic soundtrack, this game offers a fun and engaging experience for players of all ages.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Cloud
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

52%
Audience ScoreBased on 163 reviews
music16 positive mentions
optimization12 negative mentions
  • Charming and creative level design that evokes nostalgia for classic 3D platformers.
  • Fun and fluid movement mechanics, making exploration enjoyable.
  • A labor of love from a solo developer, showcasing passion for the genre.
  • Numerous technical issues, including bugs, glitches, and inconsistent performance.
  • Combat mechanics are clunky and often frustrating, with poor hit detection.
  • Overwhelming number of collectibles can detract from the overall experience.
  • music56 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the thematic appropriateness of the soundtrack and its ability to enhance the atmosphere of the levels, while others criticize it as forgettable, generic, or even cacophonous. While a few tracks stand out, particularly the main character's theme, many players found the overall composition lacking in memorability and quality. Additionally, issues with sound effects and audio mixing detracted from the overall experience for some players.

    • “In my opinion, I really enjoyed the music in the levels as I think they fit greatly into the worlds you will be playing in.”
    • “The soundtrack for each world is also very theme-appropriate, with some tracks that I'll definitely be listening to even after I've stopped playing the game.”
    • “So I had put enough hours to tell that this game is pretty good for an indie platformer, for one the controls are perfect and I mean, you can stop on a dime, run and have a ton of moves that you can use to explore the massive filled worlds that it has to offer plus each world is distinct and based on a theme that hasn't been seen in a long time which is also something to point out as each boss is fun to fight due to how easy it is to control, the soundtrack is very good, each theme follows with what time is which I find rare in those kinds of time-traveling stories.”
    • “Music is serviceable, but in my opinion, leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to memorability... I can't really remember any of the tracks besides the villain leitmotif that some songs have in them.”
    • “Most of it just felt like a cacophony of noise made by somebody that had no real grasp of musical theory, and just learned how to compose music with software that week!”
    • “At worst, I actually turned the music off, and listened to better platformer music on YouTube while I played.”
  • gameplay52 mentions

    The gameplay of "Clive 'n' Wrench" is characterized by fluid platforming and enjoyable exploration, with unique level designs that encourage treasure hunting. However, it suffers from significant technical issues, including unpolished mechanics, a stiff camera, and frustrating forced backtracking, which detract from the overall experience. While the core gameplay shows promise and can be fun, many players feel it requires substantial refinement to reach its full potential.

    • “The fluid platforming and jumping mechanics were the real star of this game and made exploration a breeze and a joy to do.”
    • “The level design and treasure-hunting gameplay are what save the experience.”
    • “Each world is extremely unique in both setting and gameplay.”
    • “The swimming mechanic was practically useless for the entire game, which was disappointing.”
    • “As the game currently is, it feels very unpolished, with various graphical and sound problems, along with some gameplay issues like a lack of invincibility frames and a stiff camera.”
    • “Aside from the multitude of technical issues I noted, the gameplay was just not fun and the layout of the level and forced backtracking was awful.”
  • graphics42 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with players appreciating the charming environments and artistic concepts, particularly in levels like the swamp and medieval worlds. However, many criticize the textures and lighting as inconsistent, leading to a muddy appearance, and note performance issues such as stuttering and bugs that detract from the overall experience. While some elements, like lighting and art style, are praised, the game is often compared unfavorably to older titles, indicating a need for polish and optimization.

    • “Aesthetically, I really enjoyed the environments in the game, with my three favorites being the swamp, Christmas ice age, and medieval worlds.”
    • “And the graphics are outstanding in charm and realistic detail, but also cartoon style.”
    • “The game can look good in the moment; the lighting is pretty, the art style is nice, and the textures are all adequate.”
    • “First of all, this game's graphics are dull.”
    • “A game with such a basic graphics design should not run like complete stuttering garbage on modern hardware.”
    • “Right now it has inconsistent framerates, the animations bug out constantly, crashes, the game uses up way more resources than it should for a game that looks like a PS2 game, sound bugs, etc.”
  • optimization34 mentions

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting poor performance even on capable hardware, leading to noticeable framerate drops and stuttering. While some aspects of the game are enjoyable, the overall experience is marred by bugs and a lack of efficient rendering, prompting recommendations to wait for patches and improvements before playing.

    • “This game is up there with A Hat in Time as one of the best modern 3D platformers out there if the countless bugs and optimization get fixed.”
    • “I find performance to be a big thing to nail in platformers, so this soured the experience quite a bit when the game started lagging out of nowhere.”
    • “I can accept bad graphics if the game runs well, and I can accept poor performance if the game looks nice, but looking bad and running bad is... bad.”
    • “This game is so poorly optimized that it was tanking my 6800 XT 16GB card on the default settings.”
    • “The game has horrible optimization, which seems to mostly be rooted in the developer's misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about rendering.”
    • “A game with such a basic graphics design should not run like complete stuttering garbage on modern hardware.”
  • story28 mentions

    The story in the game is generally considered minimal and nonsensical, with many reviewers noting that it lacks depth and context, often requiring players to refer to external sources for understanding. While some acknowledge that the simple narrative serves its purpose, the overall consensus is that players should not expect a compelling story, as the focus is primarily on gameplay and exploration. The world feels lifeless and underdeveloped, lacking engaging characters or meaningful visual storytelling.

    • “Story is simple but it does the job.”
    • “The intro cut-scene plays out like a fever dream, so make sure you know the story from the Steam page before going in.”
    • “The world of the game lacks personality; there is no life to it. It would be nice to see good NPCs or make us understand more of the world through visual storytelling and dialogue.”
    • “There is a very, very strange and small story here that makes no sense.”
    • “So you aren't playing for the story; there's nothing really here outside of a platformer and collectathon.”
    • “There is barely any context to the story without reading the Steam page.”
  • stability24 mentions

    The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including game-breaking issues that can hinder progress and problematic animations. While it lacks polish and stability, hardcore fans of 3D platformers may still find enjoyment, provided they are tolerant of these technical shortcomings. Many reviewers express hope that future updates will address these issues, potentially improving the overall experience.

    • “Right off the bat, this game is littered with bugs and glitches.”
    • “The biggest knock against the game is by far the amount of game-breaking glitches that impede progress.”
    • “There's also animation glitches and hangups that cause issues.”
  • humor18 mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by a mix of eye-rolling puns, charming characters, and a plethora of pop culture references that resonate with players. While some moments may feel anticlimactic or unfunny, the overall comedic elements, including background gags and quirky character interactions, contribute to its charm and make for a humorous experience. However, players who dislike this style of humor may find it less appealing.

    • “While it may not be the most polished game and it has its share of technical issues such as an inconsistent framerate, the world and characters have a lot of charm to them, as well as plenty of hilarious gags that hit me like a truck.”
    • “But what made me laugh were the tons and tons of pop culture references - from movies, music to old platformers.”
    • “(+) The background jokes, gags, and references give this game a lot of humor and charm.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly due to the large and complex levels that require extensive navigation to locate items like stopwatches. The final boss battle, while manageable with knowledge, still involves a frustrating trial-and-error process that can detract from the overall experience.

    • “Although I would have liked them to be more elaborate, I found some of the levels to be way too big and tedious to navigate just to simply find stopwatches.”
    • “While the final boss is relatively painless when you know what you're doing, it still relies on tedious trial and error as you try to survive for the allotted time.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, citing its nostalgic old-school vibe reminiscent of classic titles like Jak & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro. The humor also contributes to a comforting sense of familiarity, evoking feelings of childhood joy and warmth.

    • “Playing this made me feel like a kid again; it has that real old school vibe and reminds me a lot of Jak & Daxter 1, Crash Bandicoot 3, and Spyro.”
    • “This game made me feel at home with its eye-rolling humor.”
  • character development4 mentions

    Character development in the game is highlighted by appealing designs that resonate well with players, although some feel that the main characters, Clive and Wrench, are overly derivative of their inspirations. Overall, the character designs contribute positively to the game's charm, despite mixed feelings about specific characters.

    • “Character designs are appealing and is one of my most liked aspects of the game.”
    • “A pleasant 3D collectathon platformer with great movement controls, good characters/character designs, and some nice music.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

50% average critic score

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