Writhe review for Nintendo Switch

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Publisher: MissionCtrlStudios
Developer: MissionCtrlStudios
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: Leaderboards
ESRB: E10+

There?s really not very much to Writhe. It?s a single-player first-person shooter where you only have a single mode — horde mode — and you only get three areas in which to battle an endless wave of giant worms. In other words, if you play it, you?d better really like running and shooting, because that?s literally all there is to do here.

While that makes it difficult to recommend Writhe, it?s nonetheless surprisingly difficult to dislike it. Part of this, I suspect, is that it?s the work of a few friends, rather than a giant studio, so it?s pretty clear the game is a labour of love.

The bigger part of it, though, is that Writhe doesn?t ever pretend to be much more than a horde mode shooter. All the game promises is that you?ll get to run around a brightly-coloured arena, shooting your way through a neverending wall of disgusting-looking worms, and it delivers on that promise.

To be sure, you could have issues with how they deliver on it. The worms are probably a little too aggressive, and there are almost certainly too many of them, which means that within seconds of starting a new game, you?ll find yourself completely swamped. Further, there?s not a whole lot of replay value here, since literally the only thing you can do here is try to climb the leaderboards (though you could also try and beat your own best time, I guess). You can?t even grab a friend and a second controller and see how the game works with two people instead of one, since, again, this is single-player-only.

But 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.

MissionCtrlStudios provided us with a Writhe Switch code for review purposes.

Grade: C+