Obey is an asymmetrical multiplayer game which is one of the most unique games I have ever played. If you have played some classic titles, then I am sure you would be aware of the game mode King of the Hill. In this game mode, the first one to reach the top of the hill is the winner however here, the first one to the top gets a massive robot with massive guns and flamethrowers who can torch every living being on the entire map. Developed entirely by a single developer Dez, Obey is one game that has surely made us believe that if you want something to happen, you really have to commit to it. This is our review of Obey in which we control some cute bunnies and try to avoid the dangerous monkey robot who is trying to command us into doing its bidding.
Obey is a very straight-forward game to the eyes of the common because although it appears to be a simple game where a team controls some bunnies and one player controls the huge robot with the massive guns that can rip the bunnies to shreds at any time it wants. However, it is actually more than just that. To be good at this game, you have to master stealth, trickery, and betrayal or be very good at convincing others to do your job. Because if you are not good at either of these things, you will be spending a lot of your time in jump ships waiting to respawn as I did. It took me quite a bit of time to actually get good at Obey and it was not just sheer luck.
During my early games, my main focus used to be either running blindly towards the giant robot with the guns and if I managed to get to it, I used to kill everyone for fun. However, none of these strategies worked really well for me because this is not how the game is supposed to be played. The ultimate goal to win the game is to have the most amount of money at the end of the game which in the bunny’s case, is done by obeying the commands of the killer robot and getting monetary rewards in doing so. As for the robot, you must force the puny robots to do your bidding however, you must know that the cute, little bunnies can be really deceptive and they can end your reign of terror quickly if a really witty player is controlling one of them.
The gameplay of Obey consists of two phases. Either you are playing as the cute little bunny babies or you are controlling the massive robot with the killer guns depending on your luck. At the start of the game, everyone starts as a bunny and the first one to reach the killer robot, becomes the new overlord. To give the overlord a fair chance, every time a bunny enters the robot, it sends out a killer electric blast around itself which basically fries any other bunnies in close proximity. If you are second in this race, you are definitely getting fried so either be the fastest bunny or don’t bother at all. Now with the new overload in place, you and your fellow bunnies are now slaves to the robot and must obey its commands or die.
While playing as the Overlord, you can send different commands about what sort of materials you need them to collect for you. There is a collection box in the middle of the field where the bunnies can deposit their items and in return hope that the overlord takes pity on them and gives them money as a reward. If the overlord is not happy, its huge weapons can incinerate, make holes or even fry the cute little bunnies in an instant and they are taken back on the spaceship awaiting their deployment in the field again. The respawn timers are extremely high so if you don’t play according to the rules, you will be spending most of your time in this very dropship.
However, all is not gloom and doom for the bunnies. If they are clever and stealthy enough, they can sneak into the robot which will kill the player inside it and they will become the new overlord of the game. Now they can begin torturing the one killing them in the first place or be more generous towards other players. Be a good overlord to the bunnies and not everyone will try to take over your seat. Be the ultimate killing machine and everyone will keep disobeying you and you will end up losing your chance as everyone will try to remove you from the robot. The game plays out in a very unique fashion where you must be generous and strict at the same time to ensure that you survive in the game. While playing as the bunnies, obey your master but at the same time, look for ways to getting inside yourself too. As the robot, keep rewarding good behaving bunnies but make sure that order is maintained by everyone and treacherous bunnies are dealt with properly.
Most of the matches I joined or played had more than an hour of time so you can expect each game to take a long time. This long length is actually a good thing because the bunnies are slow and the amount it takes to collect the 10,000 is quite a lot. This leads to some amazing sessions if you are playing with your friends. I did find the game getting a little boring when I was playing it all alone. This is the very reason why the game’s four-pack is really cheap on Steam. Find yourself some friends and jump in Obey and you will have a blast of time blowing them away as the killer robot or feeding the robot dead corpses of your buddies. It is a unique concept and executes it brilliantly in every way.
Visually, Obey looks pretty decent as well. The special effects are brilliant and for me, the game looked brilliant while you are in the killer robot. The entire UI changes to a really cool shooter perspective as you can aim and see only where you aim because the rest of the area is dark. This also challenges you to keep all sides in check because you never know where a bunny might be hiding and sneaking closer and closer to your doom. You have plenty of weapons at your disposal as well which when fired on a treacherous bunny, displays an amazing show for the rest of the bunnies.
Final Verdict:
While Obey is a really fun multiplayer game, it really shines in co-op. If you have some friends or at least 4 friends, you can have a server for yourself where you and your friends can enjoy coercing and blackmailing each other. When it comes to Online, Obey is a mixed plate. Sometimes, you will like it and sometimes you will not. It has extremely simple mechanics, the learning curve for amateurs is really low but to be actually good at it, you must become the master of deception and trickery. If you are looking for a really unique and different multiplayer experience with your friends, then I will highly recommend that you try out Obey. For my review, I was playing Obey with three of my friends which made the game a lot more fun. It is something completely unique and while the formula takes some time getting used to, once you are used to it, it becomes insanely fun.
Final Score: 7.9/10
