Up or Lava! Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · September 5, 2023

For this Up or Lava! Review, where our goal is to Step into a challenge where your primary goal is to jump high and climb fast to escape the rising lava beneath your feet. Give no chances to either the lava or your competitors – always move up! Fight, push, knockdown, and set cunning traps to be the last player on the path to the top. Every competitor is ready to play dirty for victory. Always stay one step ahead!

Up or Lava! Review Pros:

Nice graphics.
645.16MB Download size.
Graphics settings – resolution, v-sync, windowed, and graphics quality preset.
Sensitivity slider for the mouse.
Battle Royale racing gameplay.
Basic tutorial pop-ups of controls.
Choose from 16 different characters.
You can set and change your in-game nickname at any point.
Four types of parkour events – parkour race, destiny path, urban islands, and run and fun.
Four types of DFIL game types – Bottom Valley, Fell City, Dungeon Life, and King of the Hill.
Each event has a difficulty rating and lobby max size.
Creating a game lets you choose the game type, room name, and if it has a password.
Server browser for created games.
The idea of the game is to keep going up the assault course whilst dealing with other players, over time the lava rises, and hitting it is instant death.
Simple easy-to-learn controls. You can press buttons to activate traps.
Obstacles may require crouching, running, or timed jumps to conquer.
Does use a ledge-grabbing mechanic which is a godsend.
3rd person view.
When playing you get a timer for the lava, your current position, and the highest height achieved.
End of race breakdown.
You can actually create a custom game and play it on your own to practice.
If no one joins then you can play an open online game alone.
The opening warm-up section is good as it allows you to have a quick practice.
Excellent level design.
Some cool locations.

Up or Lava! Review Cons:

Basic graphics options.
No Steam achievements.
Cannot rebind controls.
No real tutorial.
Doesn’t offer character customisation options.
Had the debug menu pop up and leave any error messages on the screen until I clicked the very small box to clear it.
No controller support.
You don’t get anything for winning.
Just cannot get the players in to make it fun.