Review: Obey Me (PlayStation 4)

by Jim Smale · Published April 23, 2020 · Updated May 23, 2020

Set in the modern world, Heaven and Hell are locked in a millennial conflict for the souls of mankind. Vanessa Held, a lowly Soul Huntress in the infernal ranks, and her Hellhound companion, Monty, will tip the balance of war with their own hands.

Pros:

Nice dark cartoon graphics.
4.43GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
3 save slots.
3 Difficulties-easy/normal/hard.
Co-op mode (local).
Tutorial pop-ups.
Soul cores-collect is in-game to put points into upgrade trees. Each character has their own skill tree.
Two characters-Vanessa (human) and Monty (dog).
Isometric hack and slash gameplay.
Get a rank and score breakdown after levels and fight breakdowns.
Set piece fights.
Combo counter.
Cool looking world.
The map allows some deviation with alternate and hidden routes.
Crowley’s notes-collectible bits of lore.
Gain new weapons as you beat bosses and you can switch weapons mid-combo.
Breakable objects in the world.
Solo play you are Vanessa but you can give commands to Monty and once your meter has filled you can merge with him for a timed super attack sequence.
Big boss fights.

Cons:

A lot of screen tearing.
The slowdown in built-up areas.
Difficulty spikes with bosses especially.
Same level formula over and over.
Input lag.
Combat is surprisingly slow especially when swapping weapons.
Easily interrupted combos.
The story doesn’t get its hooks in.
Set pieces are so common it loses its appeal and meaning.
Annoying set pieces that involve tedious mechanics or enemies.
Reuses the same enemy models a lot.

7/10

Graphics - 7/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
7/10

Accessibility - 7/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
7/10

Fun Factor - 7/10

7/10

Summary

Obey Me, a game that frustrates me no end. It’s not because its a bad game, no its because its a game that could be something of note but instead it runs badly and sticks to very old video game-style levels and systems. I really hoped it would pick up the pace with the weapons and combo system but it just fails to connect on so many levels for me. The layout of levels is very cookie-cutter and to make them seem more than they are most enemy encounters are set pieces where you get walled into a small area until you clean house. When you get further this is still the drill but they add in annoying enemy types that grab you to just move you, exploding barrels and even smaller areas and bigger enemies. Combat is fone at first but once you try to be creative it just shits the bed and the enemy can stop your flow just as fast as you can start them. Maybe they will address some of the issues but I think the game went too far in the generic category.