Sludge Life Review

The graffiti-themed Epic Game’s exclusive, Sludge Life, makes its way to the Nintendo Switch today, bringing all of the ‘90s vibes with it!

Sludge Life is one of the strangest games I’ve ever played. It feels like I’m controlling an early Adult Swim or MTV cartoon from the ’90s with its grotesque world filled with a bunch of ugly misfits. It’s just straight up weird and psychotic, but for one reason or another, it clicked with me and for the short amount of time I spent completing its barely there story, I enjoyed my time tagging the world drenched in sludge.

The game is essentially a first-person platformer where the player controls the up and coming tagger, Ghost, as he paints his art on all the prime locations to garner a slice of infamy. Go anywhere you want straight from the beginning in the small open world and find items like the glider, which helps you to reach new spots.

Like I mentioned previously there’s not much of a story here, but there are plenty of locals to interact with that are quite strange and funny to talk to. There were quite a few lines that made me actually laugh, while others were either a dud or a bit too dark compared to the rest of the game’s tone. The game doesn’t really give you any direction or tell you what to do and you’re pretty much on your own from the start, but that’s part of Sludge Life’s charm.

Getting all 100 tags across the game can actually be quite challenging due to the various puzzles that need to be completed in order to reach the different locations. Completing all of the graffiti locations is not needed to beat the game, but it does unlock another ending and there’s not much else to do besides that.

Aesthetically, Sludge Life shines as a wonderful recreation of what the early ‘90s MTV logo might have looked like if it was turned into a video game. It’s both pleasing and nauseating due to the high contrasting colors. Playing it for too long definitely gave me a bit of a headache so keep that in mind if you’re sensitive to contrasting colors.

Going along with the visual vibes, the music (which really only plays when you’re close to a stereo) is a nice mix of hip-hop and low-fi dance beats. The game just feels like one big vibe.

There are a few secrets and items to explore, like a cat with two buttholes or some disks that unlock horrible mini-games for your in-game laptop, but overall there’s not much replayability after finishing the game. Considering it’s only about a two hour game and it’s free on the Epic Game store for PC you might want to weigh your options before purchasing this one.

Despite how short the game was I still had a decent time exploring the sludge filled world, tagging walls and chatting it up with the loco locals. Playing Sludge Life for too long did give me a headache due to its high contrasting colors and low poly visuals, but in short bursts it’s certainly charming. However, the game’s humor can be hit or miss and there’s not much to discover after clearing the game. That being said, it’s a trippy time in Sludge Life.

Tony Matthews

Tony has been gaming ever since he could walk. Pokémon Blue Version helped him learn how to read. His greatest accomplishment is not just having played the entire Kingdom Hearts series but also understanding it.