Eets: Chowdown - Xbox Live Arcade review

Xbox Live bites into cutesy puzzle action the hungriest game character since Pac-Man

12DOVE Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Tons of levels

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    Cheap!

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    Splashy

  • +

    fun art style

Cons

  • -

    Needing the hints

  • -

    Can't skip puzzles if stuck

  • -

    Some of the enemies

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Eets: Chowdown lays its influences right out on the table: it’s an action-puzzle game in which the blobby white title character is the living embodiment of metabolism: he never sits still, constantly moves forward, and tends to bite into anything that fits into his cavernous little mouth. Not unlike a certain round, yellow maze-muncher...

However, Eets isn’t forever trapped in simple, neon-hued mazes: he stumbles around traditional platform fantasy lands filled with levitating land masses and lethal obstacles. Not that Eets really cares: this plucky little munchaholic is happy to vault right off the edge of a precipice or march directly into the clutches of a deadly cyborg. Thus, it falls to you to guide little Eets safely through to each level's goal – a play mechanic which hearkens immediately back to classics like the Lemmings games or (to a lesser extent) Sega’s mice-and-cat puzzler Chu Chu Rocket.

Exactly how you do this is where Eets: Chowdown begins to show off its own identity. Basically, you adjust Eets' path by adding new hazards to his environment, which eventually turns the whole level into a sort of Rube Goldberg-type meta-device that puts Eets where you want him. It's similar to yet another acclaimed puzzle series, The Incredible Machine, but with a more organic feel.

More info

GenreFamily
DescriptionA clever puzzle game starring a hyperactive little blob and a fantasy world more dangerous than East St. Louis - but quite a bit more colorful.
Platform"Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.