McPixel 3 by developer Sos Sosowski and publisher Devolver Digital—PC (Steam) review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
McPixel 3, the hit sequel to McPixel 2, is now ready for public eyes! Can you help McPixel save the day, and himself, in a variety of unconventional ways? Help McPixel in this wacky point-and-click adventure!
Jokes aside, if you're looking for McPixel 2, I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist, but is a gag used for McPixel 3. Thankfully, you don't really need to know anything about McPixel to get into the games. The best way I can think of to describe McPixel in general is "MacGyver but dumb". Dumb in a good way though. Your goal is to help McPixel defuse a situation that will result in his death. Most of the time, this will be getting away from, or deactivating, a bomb.
McPixel is a point-and-click game where you interact with the environment. After a short tutorial, you will find yourself in the city of McBurg. This is your hub area where you can explore and look for different adventures. When you find one, you will start a series of levels, or a round as it is. Each round will consist of multiple levels you need to complete in order to progress. You only have a limited amount of time to complete each level, so work on finding those solutions!
If you fail a level, no need to worry, you will keep progressing through each stage sequentially until you've successfully saved McPixel in each level in order to complete the round. Levels you have succeeded on will be skipped over until you finish the round. If you're struggling a little to complete a level, you can hit a button, the "H" key by default on keyboard, in order to see what objects are interactable on the screen you're on. Sometimes these are pretty obvious, and sometimes you wouldn't expect them. Depending on what you're interacting with, you might even be able to pick up the item and use it on something else!
As you go about completing levels and rounds, you will notice that you will be getting stamps for discovering new gags as well as coins for each new gag you discover, with a bonus for discovering all the gags in a level. These coins will be used to unlock new rounds, although some may be blocked off until you've completed a certain amount of rounds. Worried about not discovering all the gags in the levels in a round? No need to fret, you can always go back and replay the rounds in order to discover anything you may have missed.
Occasionally you may interact with something and find some dude named Steve. These are weird mini levels where you get to help Steve do… something. This could be making a knife cake, or it could be painting a picture, it's really random. But hey, being random is one of the best parts of McPixel. When I say it's random though, it's REALLY random. It might be something pretty tame, like pouring water on the bomb to diffuse it, or it may involve slapping a capybara with a fish. There are tons of gags, and the majority of them are pretty funny, so you'll definitely enjoy your time here.
McPixel 3 isn't super long, taking roughly 7 to 8 hours or so if you want to discover all the gags, but it's a lot of fun along the way. The music is surprisingly catchy, the pixelated art-style allows for a lot of leeway with the gags, and you can unlock a bunch of new outfits for McPixel while he's walking around McBurg.
McPixel 3 isn't a game to be taken seriously, it's a game that is meant to make you laugh. While the humour may not be for everyone, there is certainly a lot of it, so hopefully you can get a kick out of it as well.
Overall, McPixel 3 is something nice for an in-between period. It's short and not too complicated, but plenty enjoyable with some weird hijinks. The scenarios you encounter are all pretty unique, and the gags you can find will probably give you a few laughs per round, at least.
If you're looking for a shorter but weirder adventure that would feel right at home with its own laugh track, check out McPixel 3.
Score: 8 / 10
