CABOUS has an interesting concept but manages to make some missteps that sap any enjoyment I had out of it. The game is a walking simulatorCABOUS has an interesting concept but manages to make some missteps that sap any enjoyment I had out of it. The game is a walking simulator where you walk around unlocking memories, each one allowing you to proceed to the next. Along the way you hear narration about events in the main character’s past and each memory adds to the back story. I liked the story itself and the voice acting but the game had too many issues. You walk way too slowly which is just a huge issue with nothing else to do in the game except walk. Proceeding to each memory was a chore. You can run but the stamina bar empties so fast that you can only do so for a couple seconds. The game is also in, what I can best describe as, a fishbowl lens effect. It just looked weird and there was no option to turn it off. Couple all of this with the fact that when I got to one memory I was unable to unlock it and I had to quit. I got to a specific memory and where there was usually a button prompt to unlock the memory there was none here. I created a post on the Itch.io store page hoping to see if the developer could offer help but after eight days there has been no response.
I played CABOUS on Linux. It never crashed. I did see several flickering textures throughout my play time. There are no graphics options at all. Alt-Tab didn’t work. You can’t save the game at all which is a big deal because even if the issue with memory got fixed I would have to walk the agonizingly slow pace back to where I was from the beginning. Performance was good with the game maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS for all but a second or two. That being said the graphics weren’t anything that should have used a lot of resources anyway. They were decent but not great across the board.
Game Engine: Unity
Graphics API: OpenGL
Disk Space Used: 427 MB
GPU Usage: 26-58 %
VRAM Usage: 759-879 MB
CPU Usage: 11-26 %
RAM Usage: 2.8-2.9 GB
Frame Rate: 59-144 FPS
The small bit of praise I had for the story and voice acting isn’t enough to recommend CABOUS. I was able to hit a game breaking bug within twenty two minutes and the walking speed and fishbowl effect made it feel like a very long twenty two minutes. I paid $5.19 CAD for it, and despite the low price, caution even those who like walking sims to stay away.
My Score: 3.5/10
My System:
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 22.0.1 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Garuda Soaring White-tailed-eagle | Mate 1.26.0 | Kernel 5.17.3-zen1-1-zen | AOC G2460P 1920*1080 @ 144hz… Expand
