The Deer God review

   So why am I playing this rather than Metal Gear? For one, as this is this months Xbox 'game with gold' (free for the month) I figured if I finished it quick and wrote it out fast some people may actually be interested in reading about a game that came out in February on Steam as some Xbox owners, somewhere, will wonder what this game is, and if it's any good, whereas if I were writing this in a month then nobody in the world would likely care. So that's one reason, the other? I'm intimidated by Metal Gear. From what I've read about the game so far it sounds so open and massive, with so many ways of doing everything that I'm sort of scared to start it because even for someone who' been playing games for about 25 years, I'm still worried I'll be in over my head.
   But what is 'The Deer God' actually like. A quick cover of what it is then, it's a 2D platformer done in an 8 bit style with 3D backgrounds (looks nice). You ply as a deer (as you may have got from the name) and have to complete a few missions through procedurally generated worlds. There aren't levels per-say, but different environments such as Forrest, mountain, desert, graveyard and others. They just repeat s you go around but each area has different bosses and you can clear each section within about 30 seconds when you get towards the end of the game.
   It's a pretty simple platformer to be honest just wrapped up in some extra bits to make it seem deeper. The actual gameplay is pretty simple for a platformer, jump, dash, shoot fireballs out of your antlers, just everyday deer stuff. There's a few bosses and puzzles to keep it mixed up, but the simple nature of it is fun, reminding me at times of the classic Mega Drive Sonic games as you dash through the areas. The problem with this comes in night times though (because there's day/ night cycles) when you can't really see the enemies and are often dealt damage unexpectedly.

   Some of these 'extra' bits include dealing with hunger, which can lead to a draining or filling on the health bar (and personal annoyance). Also, ageing. When you spawn you come back as a baby deer and aren't as bad ass, and have to wait to age. It's ok though, you can get offspring by meeting a lady deer and getting her to fawnicate ;-) (also there's extra life skulls).
 Ultimately it's worth giving it a go if you got it for free, but I wouldn't pay for it 5/10. It's alright but there's a lot of other platformers out there and you could pick a lot better (but it's free, so, y'know) (also, it's pretty short if that makes you feel any different towards it).