Klaus Review

Puzzle platformers are a dime a dozen but Klaus offers you something unique to the PlayStation 4 combining some of the award winning ideas from games such as Thomas was alone or Super Meat Boy. Here is our full Klaus review for the PlayStation 4.

Klaus a puzzle platformer from La Cosa Entertainment where you play the role of a factory worker who is awoken in a basement having no idea of who or where he is. All he does know is that the word Klaus has been tattooed across his arm. Your aim is to help him escape the world he finds himself in. In addition to this you also get to play along with K1 another character the game throws at you.

Klaus is starting life on PlayStation 4 and later making the jump to PC & MAC. This is an unusual move for most PC to console ports but when you first get hands on you see why this has arrived on the Sony power house first. Klaus makes full use of the PlayStation 4 Dualshock 4 controllers features.

“I love games with simple crisp and clean art styles and Klaus really delivers here.”

Each level and game area requires careful manipulation of the environment in order to get from the start to finish. Doing this is often done by utilising the Dualshock 4’s touchpad to manoeuvre or activate a series of interactive objects. It’s great to see this and shows that developers are keen to utilise features others simply ignore and see as gimmicks. In game sounds are also pushed through the Dualshock 4 and cater to some further immersion in game.

What I really liked about Klaus was its artistic direction, I love games with simple crisp and clean art styles and Klaus really delivers here. The game is bold in colour predominantly red with black areas indicating the platforms and levelling mechanics. There is no game hud to get in the way of your view either. Klaus is touch and die so everything’s very touch and go.

The tight game mechanics and variety of game events keep you both utilising the basics whilst mastering some of the advanced movement techniques. Whether it’s you being tasked to complete a level at speed with the camera stalking you through the level to you entering secret zones and being given a handicap there’s always something to keep the game feeling fresh.

“Klaus is the sort of game you can easily pick up and play for short periods at a time and always feel like you’re getting that platformer fix”

The secret areas are a nice touch and help you build out the game’s story and experience with each secret level having a reward at the end of it to achieve. These fragments you gather help build out memory and thus explaining more about where and who you are playing as in game.

The game is challenging but I never felt it ever reached the difficulty heights of others such as Super Meat Boy or Shovel knight. There is often a checkpoint nearby so any death is easily overcome and given a little focus and time you will get past most areas in the game with little fuss.

Am I unhappy the game seemed a little easy? No in fact I think it’s a good thing and will make it feel more accessible to most. Klaus is the sort of game you can easily pick up and play for short periods at a time and always feel like you’re getting that platformer fix every so often. If you want to binge your way through it however, be ready to set aside around 10 hours in order to complete the game’s main levels.

Klaus for PlayStation 4 is a real gem and for me the first platformer that has really utilised the consoles unique control features to really make it feel at home on the console.  With some great art style some lovely in game narration and some challenging variations of platforming there’s something here for platforming fans old and new.