There is no questioning that the year 2020 is going to haunt the human race for as long as the history books continue to get printed. We’re not even halfway through the year and we’ve had to deal with some majorly jarring changes to our everyday lives that have no end in sight. I would like to formally propose that all developers take this time to right a wrong that has plagued the gaming community for far too long – the mandatory use of a keyboard and mouse. If we’re being completely honest right now, I haven’t willingly played a PC game that didn’t offer the option to use a controller since Half-Life released in 1998; that is, until I was provided a code for 10 Second Shuriken.
If the first paragraph didn’t give this away, I am not a fan of using a mouse and keyboard when it comes to gaming. At all. I know that the PC master race swears by this, and I’m fully aware that I will probably get owned in any modern FPS game if I go up against an opponent using this method, but it’s really just not for me. This is especially true when I can’t change around the preset commands, which isn’t an option here. I was fortunate enough to discover through trial and error you can use the arrow keys to move your avatar on the screen, since the menus don’t mention this little secret, but they result in you moving at about half the pace of the letter keys; since this is a game where every second counts, that’s a huge issue.
As the title alludes, you’re given ten seconds to sprint as quickly as possible through each level throwing a limited number of shurikens at armless creatures that are about 90% mouth, resembling an ugly toy that my kid keeps asking for that is packaged in a cage. Considering it took me longer than ten seconds to write this sentence, it’s really not a reasonable expectation, especially when just starting out. As of this writing, I’ve spent a few hours with the game and have only been able to fumble my way through the first two levels, mostly, but not limited to this extremely unforgivingly short time limit. This feels similar to SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell, as there are plenty of traps and dastardly hazards in between you and the goal, each of which is an instant (and more respectable) death. Overall, it feels like it’s running on the same framework, but increasing the challenge tenfold by limiting your time and locking you into a specific mode of play. Ultimately, you’re better off playing the other.
It wouldn’t do the title justice saying that it’s an ugly game; it’s not just an overly detailed one. The brightly covered, low detail levels suit the style of the game in this instance, but are not super thrilling to look at nor do they stack up to the depiction of Hell found in SEUM. It just feels like the same groundwork was used and reskinned by means of Roblox. I can’t help but think, much like my gripes with the control scheme, that a fully fleshed out world with a better set of adversaries would’ve elevated this game from mediocre to something worth talking about.
10 Second Shuriken is by no means the worst game I’ve ever played, but it feels like an early alpha of a game that could rival Super Meat Boy as one of the most challenging games I’ve ever played without the word Souls in the title. Unless you’re a keyboard and mouse enthusiast who has pinpoint motor skills, I would be hard-pressed to recommend the game in its current state, but wouldn’t rule out giving the game a go if controller support was patched into the Steam version or a console port was released down the line. Until then, I will spend my life in ten-second increments elsewhere, probably dreaming of a day we can bury our mice next to the Atari joysticks as a peripheral from the stone age of gaming.
4 out of 10
Pros
- The Game Opens With a Photo of a Kitten, Which is Known to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Cons
- Lack of Controller Support
- Bland Visuals
- Unrealistic Timed Goals
10 Second Shuriken was developed and published by BajoGames. It was released on PC on April, 29th, 2020. The game can be purchased for $5.99. The game was provided to us for review on Steam. If you’d like to see more of 10 Second Shuriken, check out the official Steam page.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
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