Spelunked The Cave

On 05/15/2013 at 02:23 AM by KnightDriver

I finished The Cave Tuesday afternoon and by finish I mean I got the last achievement. So really, I finished the game about seven times. That's 56 levels because each playthrough has eight levels. You would think that would be boring but it's not because three of those eight levels are character specific so three levels are always different depending on which three characters you choose at the beginning. Repeat plays are definitely not boring. Once I knew each puzzle well, I tried to figure out the fastest way to finish each one.

I occasionally looked up a walkthrough when I got really stuck but most of those times were due to some technicality in the gameplay or an item I misplaced. An example of a gameplay issue was in the Time Traveler's area where you have to move and hold a boulder in place in the past so that something could change in the future. Thing is, you have to use a character to hold the boulder and not just place them next to it like a doorstop. To do this you have to hold "x" while you switch characters with the d-pad otherwise the character lets go of the object as soon as you release "x". This was not a technique you have to use anywhere else in the game and so it mistified me until I looked it up. An example of a misplaced item was on the Island level. I missed seeing the femur bone under the first exploding barrel and blew it up by accident. The femur bone is essential to completing the level and so I had to restart it. Little things like these sent me to a guide but for the most part, the puzzles only required a little bit of head scratching.

The most difficult achievement was the Who Wants to Live Forever (whole game without dying). It's so easy to forget about a pit or to mistime a jump. I thought the Knight's level was the hardest to do without dying but I did it on my last playthrough while I was trying to unlock his "good ending". At the end of that playthrough, I also unlocked the The Whole Story (unlock all cave paintings), and Redemption (saw everyone's "good" ending) one after another in just a couple of minutes to complete all the achievements.

I kinda wish there were more achievements or DLC because I just want to keep playing The Cave. It's such a funny and clever game.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

05/15/2013 at 07:15 AM

I've never played this game before, although I think I've heard of it. It's an Arcade title correct?

KnightDriver

05/15/2013 at 04:03 PM

Yes. XBLA/PSN/Wii-U/PC/Mac and the brainwave OS from planet Serpo that's in the secret room under the White House... Whoops. Shouldn't have told you that.

daftman

05/15/2013 at 08:30 AM

I need to play this. Glad to hear it holds up to repeated playthroughs so well. Oh, and nice title

05/15/2013 at 04:11 PM

"Spelunk" sounds like what happens when you drop a rock into a pool of water. I picked up The Cave, thoroughly examined it, and dropped it into my water filled bucket of played games... "Spelunk!"

mothman

05/15/2013 at 12:13 PM

I've played a couple of times with different characters but didn't finish either time. I do agree that it's a great game, I just give up too easily if I get stuck.

05/15/2013 at 04:17 PM

In general, puzzle games cause me a great deal of anxiety and I did cursed a lot on my first playthrough. I even threatened to throw my controller at one point, but I would never do that. Funny thing, I was much more impatient when playing with a friend in the room. Alone, I was able to think through the puzzles without frustration. Go figure.

Super Step Contributing Writer

05/15/2013 at 01:57 PM

Sounds great, but I hate it when there's some control thing that doesn't really come up often in the game and that's why I'm sent to GameFAQs. Had to do that in Minish Cap once, and was kind of annoyed to have to look up something where I had the right idea, just wasn't pushing the right buttons.

05/15/2013 at 04:19 PM

Sometimes a game does that to you and it's ok to look up a walkthrough. I was careful to only look up the specific thing I needed so I would spoil anything else.

Casey Curran Staff Writer

05/15/2013 at 02:05 PM

I reviewed this game. Thought it was just okay, but having to repeat a playthrough just for the new levels was a terrible idea. Would have preferred if they gave a way to let you switch your party midway so you could play everyone's in one go. Lack of online co-op was also a hit against it, moving all three characters somewhere was really tedious.

05/15/2013 at 04:25 PM

I thought the mine cart area was pretty tedious. When you open the very highest block you have to go all the way to the bottom again to get the shovel. With multiple players this wouldn't have been a problem but by yourself it's a whole lot of pointless climbing and running around. Sometimes The Cave feels a little bit like doing chores for a tyranical overlord. Damn you Ron Gilbert!

smartcelt

05/16/2013 at 04:42 PM

I've decided I will get this game on Steam. It just looks amazing. With that development team behind it,it has to be good. Thanks for the great info about it.

05/16/2013 at 04:49 PM

I noticed in the credits that Cliff Bleszinksi was a play tester. The main thing though was that this was a Ron Gilbert designed game (Maniac Mansion/Monkey Island). The puzzles and dialog are all his. He got a great team together to do the gorgeous art (which reminds me of Trine) and a couple of guys to do the platforming controls which are very good.

PixlBit