The Black Pool
- June 19, 2024
- Smug Marmot Studios
Get on Steam"The Black Pool" is a 3D action roguelike game that can be played solo or co-op with up to 3 players. Your journey home takes you through a series of randomized worlds with diverse elements and abilities to discover. Carefully select and strategically upgrade your abilities to maximize your potential and battle your way out in this skill-based, high-paced game. To provide feedback, ideas, or discuss the game, join the developer's Discord server.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The Black Pool offers fast-paced, skill-based combat with a variety of elemental abilities that encourage unique playstyles and strategies.
- The game features engaging co-op gameplay, allowing players to combine abilities for powerful synergies, making it especially fun when played with friends.
- Visually striking environments and a captivating soundtrack enhance the overall gaming experience, contributing to its replayability and immersive atmosphere.
- The game suffers from frustrating design choices, such as unclear ability descriptions and problematic enemy spawn mechanics that can lead to cheap damage.
- Movement feels floaty and clunky, making combat less satisfying and often leading to a lack of control during intense encounters.
- The game lacks a solid tutorial and story, which can leave new players feeling lost and disconnected from the gameplay experience.
- gameplay26 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a well-designed roguelite experience that combines challenging mechanics with a dynamic co-op element, encouraging teamwork through a combo system. While the core mechanics and movement are praised for their solid execution, some players feel that certain aspects lack cohesion and clarity, particularly in early access. Overall, the addictive gameplay loop and engaging boss encounters contribute to a fun experience, despite some frustrations and areas for improvement.
“Overall, the mechanics, movement, and content are absolutely superb.”
“You'll find the gameplay loop incredibly addictive.”
“The combo mechanic in co-op encourages cooperation and communication, making the gameplay even more engaging and fun.”
“How would I know if I actually want to pick fire if I don't know how it'll change my gameplay?”
“I get it, it's for the aesthetics of new, unexplored worlds and it's quite thrilling, but for gameplay, it's a hindrance.”
“Certain levels are quite dark but that seems to be by design to give a more haunting feel and mix up the gameplay.”
- music18 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Overall, the music in the game receives high praise for its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting the soundtrack as a standout feature that complements the visuals and gameplay. While a few comments suggest the music may not appeal to everyone, the majority agree that it is engaging and well-executed, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
“One standout feature is the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack.”
“The music really sets the mood.”
“Beautiful landscapes and exciting music carry you through worlds as you attempt to figure out the best way to combine your powers and dispatch enemies.”
“The soundtrack is not very good.”
“Normally I turn the music off for every game I play, not this one.”
“The music/art direction creates a very eerie vibe.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their impressive aesthetics and cool visual elements, with many users appreciating the polished look despite the game's small development team. However, some players experience performance issues, particularly with frame rates, even on lower settings, and find that prioritizing performance sacrifices visual quality significantly. While the expansive landscapes contribute to the game's thrilling atmosphere, they can also hinder gameplay due to their homogeneity.
“All the different kinds of elements and abilities look and feel super cool, and the graphics are pretty good.”
“The graphics are impressive, it runs smooth, and the music is amazing.”
“Although it is a 2-man dev team, it is really polished and the graphics and music are amazing.”
“I can't get a smooth frame rate when running this game, even when I bring all the graphic settings down to medium/low.”
“They also added a graphics setting that prioritizes FPS above everything else (draw distance, particles, shadows, etc.). While turned on, it did smooth out the massive FPS dips I was having, but the game looked so terrible I never turned it back on again.”
“For example, I love the aesthetics of each world; but the landscapes feel like they were procedurally generated; they're too big, too expansive, and too homogenous.”
- replayability9 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, attributed to its diverse enemy types, varied map layouts, and randomized elements that keep each playthrough fresh and engaging. Players enjoy the combination of unique powers and abilities, which enhance cooperative gameplay and add to the fun. However, some users noted that certain gameplay mechanics, like getting stuck on obstacles, can detract from the overall replay value.
“With a large variety of enemies and map layouts and never knowing what's going to be coming next truly makes the game replayable over and over again.”
“Great replayability, amazing enemy AI with massive variety, fantastic perks and ability selections, and phenomenal imagery.”
“With changing ability combinations and randomized worlds each playthrough, this game has some serious replayability in store for it.”
“All in all, I enjoyed my time with the game, but after an hour of getting stuck on rocks in empty maps, I knew that replayability for this game wasn't for me.”
- story7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered basic and lacking depth, with players expressing a desire for a more developed narrative. While some appreciate the potential for future story enhancements, many feel that the current storyline does not fully engage or utilize the game's intriguing premise.
“Really enjoyed the ability to balance elements to make a stronger team to help progress further in the story.”
“Seemed ripe for a decent story to be told.”
“More feature complete than many other early access games, can't wait to see the storyline once it's implemented.”
“The only downside I would put here is the storyline, or lack thereof.”
“Its story is too basic.”
“Story is a little lacking as the game only tells about these kids that fell into a pool.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game is generally well-optimized, but some users report significant performance issues, particularly with high GPU usage even at lower settings. There is a call for better scaling options, such as DLSS or FSR, as the current resolution scaling negatively impacts visual quality without providing substantial performance benefits.
“It's also quite good looking and decently optimized.”
“Though, if you look at my profile, I can throw my rig at an unoptimized game, so... who knows.”
“It almost burned out my GPU in the main menu with the FPS locked at 60 and the resolution scaling at 30%. It needs proper scaling options like DLSS or FSR; your resolution scaling just makes the game look terrible for almost no performance gain.”
“Though, if you look at my profile, I can throw my rig at an unoptimized game, so who knows.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is characterized as mysterious and intriguing, enhanced by well-suited music that complements the overall experience.
“The atmosphere is mysterious and intriguing.”
“The music perfectly complements the atmosphere.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been criticized for being plagued by numerous bugs, including issues with audio quality, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, players find the permanent progression system and roguelike choices to be unengaging and monotonous.
“The game is a buggy mess with terrible audio quality.”
“Permanent progression feels boring and unengaging.”
“The roguelike choices during runs are uninspired and repetitive.”
