WRITHE

 Switch
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17

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  1. Gamerheadspodca
    Jan 20, 2021
    9
    Writhe is a great game that should be on the Switch of every arcade shooter fan. The run and gun gameplay is easy to pick up, but hard to master. Writhe is made even better by its development team, who are responsive to the community and are passionate about making Writhe the best it can be. The future updates in 2021 will only add to an already solid gaming experience.
  2. Switchheads
    Feb 2, 2021
    10
    If your after a FPS Score Chaser then this has to be the one you get. It's fast paced and makes you work for them vital seconds to add you to that top position on the online leaderboards. It's an impressive feeling game. I have to admit the Devs have all ready added more things to the game and patches. And it looks great.
  3. Scottview
    Feb 21, 2021
    9
    This game is frigging awesome and the critics are wrong. Simple but addictive and well designed arcade shooting fun, great for quick burst of survival gameplay. It's gotten a lot better with lots of updates, improving weapon upgrading and adding gyro too.
  4. Tinitim
    Jan 31, 2021
    9
    I love the art style and just think this is a must for any devil daggers fans. I can’t wait for the new updates too, finally a dev that cares about free post launch support... 9/10!
  5. WingusWallus
    Feb 16, 2021
    9
    I initially picked Writhe up on launch night for it's low price and promise of gnarly creatures, boppin music, and addictive arcade shooting, with colorful throwback graphics. Good lord, it delivered on all fronts. Playing Writhe feels like being in an extreme 90's game ad. It's fast, intense, doesn't let up, and might leave your heart pumping. When it puts you in the zone nothing elseI initially picked Writhe up on launch night for it's low price and promise of gnarly creatures, boppin music, and addictive arcade shooting, with colorful throwback graphics. Good lord, it delivered on all fronts. Playing Writhe feels like being in an extreme 90's game ad. It's fast, intense, doesn't let up, and might leave your heart pumping. When it puts you in the zone nothing else exists but you, your shaking controller, and the endless horde of wriggling hell worms before you. Also the hours you might spend chasing top leaderboard scores.
    Gameplay is simple. run, jump and shoot. Your goal? survive as long as possible. You've got two guns; a plasma machine gun and a shot gun. While your machine gun can mow down grubs all day, you're going to have to have to know when make use of the shotgun. While you have unlimited ammo, reloading your shotgun takes half a second, but in Writhe, every second counts. When things get going, that half a second could make or break it. In place of grenades, you can knock back fusewyrms, which explode and take out everything around them. Health is minimal, but you can refill it by blasting open cocoons (which are now highlighted, post update) and collecting the health boosts inside. Neglecting to splatter the cocoons, however, does result in the spawn of a bullwyrm. think of it as an armored t-rex head crawling at you at top speed. The base feel of the gameplay took me back to other classic highspeed shooters like Doom and duke Nukem 3d, even without a full blown campaign mode.
    Speaking of guns, the devs just added a simple, but good update to the game. Originally, your guns would get a slight bump in performance after every hundred seconds of sucking up points off splattered enemies. Now you can instantly swap between which gun your points go to, and they upgrade much faster with much more worthwhile effects, like turbo charging your arsenal or giving your bullets new effects like penetration or extra spread.
    The game only features three maps so far, but each one offers a different challenge.
    Rundown feels like the smallest map but is crammed with verticality. Ledges, bridges, ramps, tunnels, and two tiny open spaces cram together in a fun way that doesn't feel too complex. Let it also be noted that Rundown has the tightest corners of all the maps, meaning you gotta be on your toes more. Jungle feels much larger with more room to run from the horde between all the ruins and bridges, but that also means there's more places for the worms to pop out of. Factory still retains a good amount of verticality but also feels more arena-like, in that it's the most symmetrical and simple layout, but in a way that makes it much easier to navigate and maneuver through, helping to focus the action more on combat.
    The music gets brought up often when talking about Writhe, and for good reason. The techno rock soundtracks for each level bump and bop not over or under the action, but with it. The sound effects work well. each gun sounds loud and strong enough to ramp your senses up, but not deafening enough to drown out the sounds of incoming worms, and their inevitable splatters. I especially like the sweet sound of the soda can health pick ups.
    The Graphics are a stunning mix of old school low poly games, and modern hd graphical touch ups like reflections, shading, glow, and a modern screen ratio. My favorite instance of this was walking into the in-game museum and seeing everything from the lit-up display cases, to the long orange banners and even the roof overhead reflected into the polished black floor beneath me.
    Although the game is all about gameplay first, there is a story and it works really well. You play as a random unnamed soldier dropped into 70's/80s Thailand, where hordes of mutated worms are running rampant and it's up to you to try to stop them, and eventually die trying. Throughout the game you collect points which gradually unlock pieces of lore that shed light on the events leading up to the outbreak and the soda company behind it. Even outside of the lore pages, the story still peaks out all throughout the game, like how each map acts as a key point in the timeline of the worm outbreak. On top of that, there's so many little touches strewn throughout the maps that make them feel like believable locations, from little things like a knocked over chair, to odd graffiti, to a small corner in Rundown where you can find a shirt hanging in what looks like someone's old hangout spot, now desolate. While the story isn't (nor should it have to be) the next great epic, it is eerie, fun, and intriguing, and makes the monster movie fan in me happy.
    On top of all that, this game has been receiving worthwhile updates since launch, adding things like gyro aiming, the gun upgrade system, extra settings, and even a tutorial, with seemingly more support to come.
    Writhe is a small, simple game that packs so much fun and polish behind a low price that I can't not recommend it.    … Expand
  6. valzi
    Oct 23, 2021
    8
    Some of the reasons I like Writhe, progressing in order of importance

    1. I like the visual style. (This is the first game other than Tangledeep that I actually sometimes leave a filter on for. I think the retro one is attractive, not just nostalgic. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's actually nostalgia, and I just don't know.) 2. I love having anything of the arcade FPS score attack genre on    Some of the reasons I like Writhe, progressing in order of importance

    1. I like the visual style. (This is the first game other than Tangledeep that I actually sometimes leave a filter on for. I think the retro one is attractive, not just nostalgic. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's actually nostalgia, and I just don't know.)
    2. I love having anything of the arcade FPS score attack genre on the Switch at ALL.
    3. I like that I can play it with my kids in the room. I don't feel comfortable playing Doom 93 or 2016 or Devil Daggers with them in the room yet. This is actually the primary reason I bought it, haha.
    4. Navigating 3d terrain with jumps mattering and with the egg/cocoon things makes this a very different challenge than Doom's arena WADs or than Devil Daggers. It's not a clone of anything that I know of. It's a very fun thing that is its own thing.    … Expand
  7. Cliothecat
    Jan 31, 2021
    10
    A fun score chaser with a great retro aesthetic. Great post launch support too, much needed gyro controls added, and one of the few 60fps shooters on switch!
  8. jiminycricket
    Feb 15, 2021
    10
    Tough as nails but love the recent update !! looking forward to seeing more content in future
  9. BucketSlayer
    Mar 6, 2021
    10
    WRITHE isn't for everyone, but as a huge Devil Daggers fan I was more than ready for something in the same vein on the Switch. If you're looking for a peaceful romp, you won't find it here, nor will you find a campaign... because it isn't that kind of game (and that's okay). However, if you're here for a challenge, you love that old arcade feel, you want to try and get some high scores,WRITHE isn't for everyone, but as a huge Devil Daggers fan I was more than ready for something in the same vein on the Switch. If you're looking for a peaceful romp, you won't find it here, nor will you find a campaign... because it isn't that kind of game (and that's okay). However, if you're here for a challenge, you love that old arcade feel, you want to try and get some high scores, and you're okay with dying [a lot], then this is what you've been looking for.

    In short, I love this game and what it was going for. It delivers on everything it promises and the devs are incredibly attentive- they listen to players' feedback, and most importantly they act on it! The game is constantly being updated and improved, which seems like a rarity these days. It has to be 10/10 for me.    … Expand
  10. OMcConnelly
    Feb 22, 2021
    9
    Really fun arcade-y pick up and play shooter that works perfectly on the Switch! Unfortunately a little light on content for the price tag, but the frequent updates are really doing a lot to improve the game for the better! Impressive for such a small team, and with more updates coming, I can't wait to see how it turns out in the future!
  11. VELODET
    Jun 16, 2022
    10
    WE NEED MORE GAMES LIKE THIS. I don't get why devs don't realise we need some score chasers FPS like Post Void and Devildaggers. The updates this studio did to the game were amazing and its nice to have a game which is an actual challenge. hope this comes to PC would be a dream for mouse and keyboard. 10/10 we need more score chasers!!

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Pure Nintendo
    Feb 22, 2021
    60
    My first impression of the Writhe wasn’t the greatest; after playing several rounds on each level, I started to enjoy it more. While it certainly lacks content, what is there is solid. However, the asking price of $9.99 is a little steep for the content available as of now.
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  2. Gaming Age
    Jan 29, 2021
    58
    Within its limited scope — its very, very, very limited scope — Writhe does alright for itself. There’s clearly something here to build on, and even if that doesn’t mean you should pick this game up now (wait for a very deep discount from its current $10 price), it does mean that eventually it might turn into something worthwhile.
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  3. Hey Poor Player
    Jan 28, 2021
    50
    If you’re looking for a retro-style FPS that will kick you in the teeth, Writhe certainly fits the bill. It’s just unfortunate that it doesn’t offer much else apart from its considerable challenge. With only a small smattering of stages to choose from and enemy types to exterminate, it’s tough to recommend adding Writhe to your Switch library, even at its budget-friendly price.
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