The king is dead. And now as his daughter, it’s naturally your responsibility to lug his corpse to its final resting place. Perhaps not the plot one would expect from a game that looks like Frima Studios’ somewhat cartoony Chariot. What initially sounds gruesome and macabre actually comes across as light and airy. Upon arriving at the king’s original intended burial place his ghost arises to chastise you for picking such a poor location and demands that you put in a little extra effort to get him to his rightful place in the royal catacombs. The princess is joined by her dutiful suitor and the two (technically 3 if we’re including ghosts) head out on their big adventure to drag a dead body to the choicest burial spot.
But of course the royal catacombs are a significant walk and dragging around a coffin is no easy work. The game’s titular chariot is a casket on wheels that you’ll be spending most of the game attached to. Pressing the right trigger on the controller will fire a tether at the chariot that will allow you to drag or dangle from it depending on your situation. Pushing the left bumper will make you reel in your rope, while the left trigger will give you slack. You can also press down on the analog stick to dig into the ground, which is helpful for when you want to pull the cart up over a cliff or ledge.
But of course you don’t have to navigate the royal catacombs by yourself. Chariot is, at its core, a couch co-op, physics based, puzzle platformer (say that three times fast). A second player can jump right into the action at any time and help you get that dead body to its destination. And that’s likely how you’re going to want to play the bulk of the game.
It’s possible to complete Chariot in its entirety without a second player coming along for the ride. Because you don’t really need the second player, it never feels like they’re in your way when they’re present. Playing with someone who’s really good at the game of course makes things easier, but you also probably won’t feel held back by a less experienced player.
Unfortunately the physics in the game do take a little getting used to. Initially I found everyone I played with had a little trouble figuring out when exactly they could tether to the chariot. There was also a reasonable amount of confusion in relation to the act of digging into the ground to stop a dangling chariot from pulling players off cliffs. With a little bit of time spent getting familiar with the game’s physics things were generally smooth sailing, and if you have a friend whose willing to learn you’ll definitely have a great time.
While you can finish the game by yourself it is worth noting that Chariot features a number of bonus puzzle sections that will usually require a second person. These puzzles involve getting the chariot up to a particularly tricky place and using it to collect a gem. Not all of these sections require a second player and particularly crafty players will sometimes be able to finish them solo, there’s even an achievement for doing so. Still if you want to 100% this game you’re almost certainly going to need a buddy.
Even in death the king is addicted to treasure. There’s plenty of gold and riches to be found throughout the game’s levels, but it can only be picked up by the chariot itself. Folks looking to go a completionist route will find themselves dragging the chariot to all kinds of potentially unplanned places to suck up as much riches as possible.
Amongst the treasure littering the game’s levels you will find blueprints, these can be used to purchase upgrades both to your characters and to the chariot. Your first set of upgrades are gadgets, these map to the “Y” button on the controller and each character can select one before beginning a level (note that both characters can’t carry the same gadgets). These items/abilities include things like an anchor you can drive into the ground to hold the chariot in place, a magnet that will attract the chariot to you when activated, or an innocent little canary/bomb who will attract enemies before exploding.
The second form of upgrades are more passive and directed at the chariot, this includes things like a lantern that will allow you to access darkened levels, and a set of snow tires that will let you move into the snowed out courses. These upgrades are mandatory to continue in the game, unlike gadgets which can mostly be skipped entirely.
If you play by yourself there’s a good chance you’ll find Chariot to be a bit on the easy side. The game reserves its best challenges for its optional puzzle sections, but for the most part those can’t be completed without two people.
Chariot is couch co-op perfected, but you will need a couch to participate in any of it. The lack of online multiplayer is somewhat disappointing but I also don’t know how easy it would be to collaborate on a lot of the game’s puzzles over a headset. Another minor annoyance to me was that the game would only recognize one gamertag at a time. This meant that even when I was playing with someone else who had an Xbox Live account I was the only person making progress and earning achievements.
Chariot is the most fun I’ve had moving a corpse this year. It was probably my favorite game I saw at PAX last month and the brief transition to release has gone great. There’s plenty of content to chew on in the game, especially at its $14.99 price point. Plus if you’re reading this during the game’s launch month of September its actually free with your Xbox Live account. The game is also available on PS4 and will eventually be heading to the Wii U and PC as well. Text your best friend and let them know you need their help burying a body, it’s time to have some fun.
This game was reviewed using pre-release code provided to us by the publisher.
