‘Tokyo Jungle’ review
By Marc Thompson, Contributor
3/5
Tokyo Jungle (released on September 25) is a quirky Japanese game detailing life in Tokyo, 10 years after the entire population has vanished. In this dystopic future, escaped animals and pets now run wild in the city. The game has you play various herbivores and carnivores, growing, eating, and desperately trying to survive long enough to pass your genes on to the next generation by claiming a suitable territory and finding a mate.
The game doesn’t stop there though; your offspring will inherit the traits of your animal and function as a pack. If an animal dies, you immediately get to play as one of the others. There are also story missions where you play as specific animals with specific goals. Through story mode, and numerous journals uncovered in exploration, you can discover more about why humanity has disappeared.
The game is somewhat stealth focused, and highly rewards a cautious playing style. Conversely, it punishes your screw ups massively—a single attack often kills. Even a tiny adorable Pomeranian can take down a hyena with a stealth attack (and it takes quite a while for that to get old), but a lucky housecat can take it out as well.
Initially, you only have the Pomeranian and a Sika Deer to play with, but as you complete missions and unique survival challenges, you’ll unlock additional animals, from cats and chickens, all the way up to tigers and lions and bears. There are also numerous other animals available as DLC.
To put it simply, this is a highly entertaining, amusing Japanese game where you play animals in a literal urban jungle. It’s got some odd design flaws, but is overall a worthwhile, if somewhat challenging $15 purchase.
