Warning: Cyanide & Happiness – Freakpocalypse contains adult humor and is not appropriate for children. However, this review does not contain adult content and is suitable for all ages.

I’ll admit, from time to time I like a bit of dark comedy. Sometimes things get so heavy in life that morbid or low-brow jokes are great to just…make the most of a bad situation. Comics like Cyanide & Happiness are somewhat hit or miss for me, but after playing the South Park games, I knew I had to give Cyanide & Happiness – Freakpocalypse a try.

It should be noted going forward that this game was funded via Kickstarter and that currently, Freakpocalypse is only actually part one of the story. As such, it is mostly a prelude to the story to come, setting up the backstory of the protagonist Coop, as well as the people he knows in his hometown. As a Point-and-Click title, you pretty much know how the game is going to play, but I will mention a few things I noticed while playing.

Coop can look at, touch, and speak to everything he comes across in the game. Sometimes this is humorous, other times you can pick up items for Coop’s inventory. Having played through the short runtime of the game, I am pretty positive that despite finishing the game I know I’ve missed some things, quests, etc.

Why? Well, first off you can collect costumes for Coop as you explore, and they are all tallied in Coop’s journal. This allows you to keep track of how many costumes you have, out of the total amount. Being a Switch release, the game also tallies its own achievements, though I am sure the Steam version tallies it in actual achievements instead.

The characters are all voiced, and people who follow the Cyanide & Happiness animations will likely recognize some voices. There are even a few YouTuber voices thrown in for good measure, which was an interesting touch. I was a little bit annoyed that the main menu was bugged when I first opened the game, so I couldn’t turn the subtitles on right away. This led me to miss out on the intro cutscene, which is important to note for deaf players.

However, as a game, it has some clever gameplay elements. The joke of Coop being a loser is somewhat beaten to death, but if you like the source material, you’ll find that Freakpocalypse has some funny moments and some clever puzzle design. There are also plenty of dialogue options with each character, allowing you to explore funny, gross, or just strange interactions.

My favorite was with a character named Shark Dad, who is a dad that also happens to be a shark with a mustache. Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds. The fun part is, if you talk to everyone, search thoroughly, and make effective use of items in your inventory, you won’t have much trouble. If you do need a little guidance, the game has a built-in hint system to give you a nudge in the right direction.

The biggest issue I have with Cyanide & Happiness – Freakpocalypse is the fact that it doesn’t feel like a complete game, because it isn’t. If I had to guess, I would say the development was rushed due to the Kickstarter campaign that spawned the game. Originally, Freakpocalypse was going to release in parts, but now it seems like you will purchase each part separately.

For the price, I think that is absolutely obscene. $19.99 for a 2-4 hour game – maybe 8 hours if you’re getting everything, generously speaking – is outrageous. Yes, the game is fun, yes it is funny, but it ends just when it seems like it is getting good and you might actually get to peel back the true meat of the story.

That is the really disappointing part about Freakpocalypse. It is a fun game, and I think a lot of people will enjoy it. However, it feels like the developers really should consider making the other parts free as content updates (due to the price point) or they should provide more gameplay in part one. Otherwise, it almost feels exploitative to the fans of Cyanide & Happiness, giving them scraps at a high price point.

It is really difficult to recommend this game based on how little content you get. Yes, there are a fair few side quests, and there are costumes and things to collect. However, the credits come so abruptly, before there is even a real climax to the story, that it feels ridiculously unfinished.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Cyanide & Happiness – Freakpocalypse was provided by Serenity Forge for this review.

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Cyanide & Happiness - Freakpocalypse

$19.99 USD

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Fun Gameplay
• Humorous Dialogue
• Great Voice Acting
• Side Content and Collectible Costumes

Cons

• Very Short Game
• Feels Like a Prologue to the Rest of the Story
• Ends Just as the Story is Picking Up
• Price Feels Exploitative to Fans