- Publisher: Adult Swim
- Release Date: Feb 7, 2014
- Also On: PlayStation 4
- Critic score
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- By date
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Feb 7, 2014It's a rare, but fantastic thing to find a game that feels like the result of a singular artistic vision. To find one that also happens to be a genuinely comic vision is like tripping over a unicorn. Playing Jazzpunk, from developer Necrophone Games, was like tripping over a unicorn who just happened to share my particular appreciations for goofy puns, technological ephemera, and Saul Bass.
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Feb 6, 2014Stylish, inventive and easily one of the funniest games in years. Jazzpunk just wants to make you laugh. Don't worry, it will.
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Hyper MagazineApr 9, 2014A wonderful rarity. [May 2014, p.76]
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Feb 12, 2014Anarchic, baffling, sometimes downright silly, and often inspired, Jazzpunk works tirelessly to make you laugh and gasp. The frequency with which you’ll do both is a testament to a bold new talent, and Necrophone Games deserves all the plaudits that will be thrown its way in the coming weeks.
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Feb 10, 2014Not only is Jazzpunk in and of itself a clever and positively insane experience, it is one of the funniest games of all time.
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Feb 10, 2014This game made me laugh - not gently or under duress of slow realisation, but in staccato outbursts which alarmed and unsettled passers-by.
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Feb 7, 2014Games are so rarely funny by design, but Jazzpunk is much more than a funny videogame. It’s a comedy, and one that wouldn’t be possible – or anywhere near as powerful – in any other medium.
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CD-ActionJun 28, 2014I bow down to writers behind Jazzpunk. I just haven’t decided yet whether I should send them flowers to the rehab or to the mental hospital. [05/2014, p.69]
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Feb 14, 2014Jazzpunk is certainly enjoyable, but it isn’t without its flaws.
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Feb 10, 2014Whether you are a fan of jazz or punk, Jazzpunk is certainly something you need in your life.
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Feb 19, 2014It is probably too short, but if you take your time and explore, you will find a great adventure, full of laughter and surprises.
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Apr 26, 2014To make someone laugh while playing is no easy task, and Jazzpunk succeeds in doing just that most of the time.
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PC PowerPlayMar 28, 2014It may not impress with clever mechanics, but Jazzpunk is a genuinely funny comedy romp that will put a smile on your face. [Apr 2014, p.55]
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Feb 28, 2014I'd rather have a short game that gets fart jokes right than a long one full of hot air.
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Feb 23, 2014Jazzpunk is like an interactive trip through a Leslie Nielsen flick, showering the player with witty irreverence at every turn. Any situation will be taken to its most literal or bizarre conclusion, depending on which will serve for the better punchline.
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Feb 18, 2014Jazzpunk projects exactly what its eccentric name implies; a hilarious adventure with an unwieldy rhythm and paradoxically predictable narrative-uncertainty, all of which draws fuel from a seemingly endless source of energy.
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Feb 15, 2014Around every corner, there’s a crab that’s fluent in Spanish, or a Pizza Box that laughs at you maniacally. Sure, there are a few duds and it doesn’t always hit the mark, but developer Necrophone Games bang out the gags at a rate befitting of a Python.
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Feb 13, 2014If you’re looking to laugh a lot, and maybe even think about stuff just a little bit, give it a play.
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Feb 11, 2014As an experience, I’d definitely recommend Jazzpunk. It still fits in the, “Wandering Around Game” style, however its comedic sensibilities are great and its treatment of other video game styles are a love letter to gaming in the most fun, madcap way that Necrophone Games could have thought of.
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Feb 11, 2014Jazzpunk is uniquely ridiculous and undeniably hilarious. It's not afraid of making you work to find all the funny, which turns even the tiniest throwaway joke into something special.
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Feb 6, 2014Jazzpunk doesn't aspire to be an excellent shooter or platformer. Instead, it aspires to and succeeds in having a great conversation with the player.
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Feb 6, 2014What's here is undoubtedly high quality, but some may find themselves just wanting more of the game. It's a blessing and a curse.
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Feb 13, 2014The beginning is so sweet, with gags to be discovered all over around us. And they almost always deliver. But then, after an hour or so, minigames take over and fun fades away. Still: how many other games make us laugh out loud like this?
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Mar 14, 2014Being an unusual comedy-game, Jazzpunk is a funny and different experience.
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Feb 7, 2014Like both jazz and punk, it won't be appreciated by everyone.
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GameStarMar 3, 2014I was initially a little put off. The optics of Jazz Punk are primitive, the humor is anything but subtle. First, the gags seemed to me abundant infantile. But the longer I played, I had more pleasure in the game worlds in discovering all the jokes and some ideas from the developers that are just awesome.
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Apr 23, 2014The replay value is low, but it’s a nice distraction while it lasts.
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Mar 24, 2014Games don’t come much goofier than this – Jazzpunk serves up nonstop, breathless absurdity, if not much else.
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Feb 20, 2014Go in dark and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
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Feb 19, 2014Jazzpunk is a rare comedian in games. As an adventure it doesn’t have much to offer, but the game succeeds in its primary goal: surprising its audience and getting them to laugh.
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Feb 18, 2014A fumbled finale puts a notable stain on the experience. They say one of the key rules in comedy is to leave the audience wanting more, but as Jazzpunk’s credits rolled I was left feeling a little indifferent. But the game is something to be admired. Few titles dedicate themselves to comedy as wholly as Jazzpunk does.
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Feb 12, 2014Quirky humor and an abundance of outrageous antics keep things buoyant through much of the short but flawed journey. Jazzpunk is an enthusiastic attempt to answer the question of just how much weirdness you can possibly cram into a few hours of gaming. In that endeavor, at least, it's a great achievement.
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Feb 6, 2014Necrophone Games has a fantastic premise, a decent execution and a brave narration in Jazzpunk.
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Feb 6, 2014Nevertheless, if you like the sound of a strange Naked Gun/Monty Python-inspired robot-filled adventure/exploration game jam-packed with laughs you should get Jazzpunk as soon as possible.
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Feb 6, 2014It starts out strong with dozens of hidden gags hidden among the scenery, but unfortunately it loses its momentum once minigames start to dominate its three-hour running time.
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Feb 6, 2014By the time I finished Jazzpunk, I was both left wanting more of its crazy world and feeling slightly underwhelmed. Many of the jokes felt a bit too random for their own good, and the story kind of just ends with no real resolution.
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Feb 7, 2014Play it for the novelty and the rapid-fire assault of jokes, but don't be surprised if most of them miss the mark.
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Feb 7, 2014Jazzpunk ends up being scatological and surreal, but it’s not sublime. Like Meatloaf says, two out of three ain’t bad. But when’s the last time anyone listened to Meatloaf? Jazzpunk is funny in its own peculiar way, but that’s about all it is.
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LEVEL (Czech Republic)Apr 7, 2014Not much of an adventure game but boy, what fun! [Issue #239]
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Mar 25, 2014An adventure game from a first-person perspective where a player explores a parody on the 60' that is full of robots, secret agents, and absurdist humour? Great! However, the final outcome is staggering because of its game parody approach.
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Feb 21, 2014Jazzpunk is a videogame curiosity, that will make you laugh most of the time if you overcome the "what the #!@? am I playing" effect.
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Feb 10, 2014Not quite Scary Movie but certainly not the video game equivalent of Airplane, although the fact that it even tries to be is almost recommendation enough.
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Mar 23, 2014Jazzpunk is an equivalent of an avant-garde show – it doesn’t have a story or even a point to it. It’s nothing more than a collection of rejected ideas.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 113 out of 163
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Mixed: 35 out of 163
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Negative: 15 out of 163
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Feb 12, 2014
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Mar 7, 2014
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Feb 8, 2014