Storm Boy is an interactive telling of the children’s book based on Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy that was released in 1964. The story is about a child friendship bond with a pelican from a rescue that is named Mr. Percival. The game tells the story from key moments of the novel by allowing you to take control of both Storm Boy and Mr. Percival in story telling settings in the game.
General Gameplay
As the game is more of an interactive story that retells key moments of the novel, most of the time it is just a group of minigames that are set up to tell the story. The Game Visuals for Storm Boy are beautiful to see in action. The game seems like the novel came alive and all details from background to characters and the pelican are very detailed. The game is more presented in a watercolor style in which everything pops on the screen. The game does not support a colorblind mode; however, it is not needed as the colors are perfectly seen on the screen. As the game does not have any FMV (full motion video) and all the storytelling is done via text on the screen, the game does not have anything offensive for younger gamers to see. The Audio for Storm Boy is an arrangement of piano melodies that fit the scenes in which you play the game. The piano arrangement is well done and help tell the story of the game. Everything from the background sounds from the shore to other pelicans, and other animals are done well so you feel that you are at the shore. The game is in 5.1 surround sound but sounds fine in any sound environment. As the game does not have any spoken dialog, the game audio is fine for any gamers in your gaming family. In our playtesting we did not run into any issues with the game audio, so it should be ok for any gamers in your gaming family. The Controls for Storm Boy are very easy to use. As there is the left thumb stick to move the character, there is an action button to make and user inputs that the game is asking for. The game is designed to be more of an interactive story, so the controls are designed for anyone to pick up and play the game. In our playtesting, we did not run into any issues with the game controls. As the game is very easy to use, there is no need for a special controller for any console and the default controller is fine to use.
“Storm Boy is an amazing game for anyone that loved the novel. The way that the story is told in the game is easy to follow and beautiful to see unfold right down to the last 5 minutes of the game.”
Family Friendly
Now let’s start off with a general spoiler for the game, this is more for those that have not read the novel and going to let younger children play the game. The ending of the game deals with death and how people cope with it. Now in our playtesting some of the parents of gamers that were going to play test Storm Boy did not have a problem letting younger children play the game, where others that felt that dealing with a topic of death and how people cope was a little too much for younger gamers. So, if you are going to allow younger gamers to play Storm Boy please be aware of this. Outside of this, Storm Boy is a great game for those that loved the novel, and that never have read it. The game is short, like 1 hour to play and beat the game, however what makes the game so great is the minigames that are in Storm Boy. Everything from san drawing, fishing, cockle hunting, sand surfing, feeding of the pelicans and fly as Mr. Percival is fun to do and bring the story to life. Again, this is more of an interactive story then a game but still a fun game for all ages. This is a great game for anyone that is looking for a stress- free game, casual gamers or fans of the novel. In our special needs game testing outside of the topic of death, we did not see any issues with the game visuals, controls, or even audio as everything in Storm Boy is very special needs gamer friendly.
Closing
Storm Boy is a great telling of the 1964 novel. Anyone that loved the novel will love the game and its beautiful rendition. Game is short but a great experience.
