Long Drop

[b]long drop[/b] looked like a great game... for me to poop on! except as juvenile and mobiley as it is, it's actually pretty good for the most part. your average [b]'aim, shoot, hope for the best' kinda deal[/b], not something I normally play, but they can be good as palate cleansers. not the right term here, though it'd 1000% remove any other taste from your mouth. anyway, instead of birds or pigs or whatever, you're hurling turds, so coprophobes need not apply. we're in olden times, when rich people supposedly had entire rooms for defecating purposes. who needs a toilet when the whole floor and all the walls are your canvas? after a brief cutscene and voiced character profiles, I expected some sort of story, but there is none. [b]71 identical-looking levels[/b] unlocked one by one, divided into 4 acts, level names are puns and references. unfortunately, [b]the cutscene for the current act has to be skipped every time[/b] you continue the game, instead of only playing before level 1, 20, etc. and never again. it's mouse-based, with undocumented hotkeys for the pause menu (esc) and restart (r). left click practically anywhere to start setting an angle, then let go to let go. moving the held cursor to the butt (the launch area, so to speak) cancels the move, but the pop-up is really intrusive (inherited from mobile). after a patch right click also works. you mostly have [b]3 shots per level[/b], dunking once is enough for success. if more than one type of poo is present, you can choose in which order to fling them. [b]no timer, only score.[/b] bouncing off walls, hitting flies and vermin on the way and dunking every time you can are always a plus and contribute to the [b]3-toilet roll rating[/b]. with some buttons needing a piece to hold them down, 3 dunks aren't always possible. a pinata occasionally appears, gives you a rainbow-powered boost or something else for a while if you break it, plus some points. scores and the rating are only for bragging purposes. [b]timing can be important[/b] (land on a button right when another turd is moving over a trapdoor, etc.), so even with hints it's possible to get stuck during execution, though there aren't many levels like this. and of course [b]finding the precise location after many-many tries is also frustrating, there are a few real stinkers in the second half[/b] (level 39 can ♥♥♥♥ off, for instance, 44 even more so). [b]there's a hint button[/b] with barely visible lines depending on your monitor's brightness settings. [b]not always helpful, as setting the same angle won't necessarily have the desired effect.[/b] and if only the last step is tricky, you'll have to keep re-doing the first two over and over and over and over... [b]5 characters get unlocked as levels go by[/b], each with different traits. the default one bounces, there's a slippery one that doesn't, the sticky can be used to catapult others after applying it to a surface. the biggie breaks stuff and the last one has bullet time (can be launched again mid-air while time is slowed down, can't cancel this one). they all have [b]unlockable outfits[/b], either with progress and/or by doing well, not sure. the butt has a bunch of random looks too. graphics are cartoony and pretty good, but [b]I would've liked more variety in the levels, they're too dark and look the same[/b]. music is fitting but incredibly repetitive, the same short loop until you finally turn it off. surprisingly, effects are fine but had the game had more voiceovers, they'd be very annoying too. settings, also available while playing, are separate volumes for music and sound (not speech), resolution options in a drop-down menu (no dedicated windowed mode toggle, have to press alt+enter), an aim sensitivity slider and an invert aim toggle. level numbers only appear on the level select screen. as I said, [b]not exactly original gameplay, but fun and done mostly well, even has a demo to try[/b] and it's also available on mobile. could use a bit more polish (and it might get it), but recommended for fans of the genre. like its peers, it needs an extra dose of patience I don't possess, so perfecting every level didn't even cross my dirty mind. level skip would be nice, without it I had to edit the save to be able to continue at one point (level 44), and [b]the last stage has one of my least favorite things in games[/b] (and I have dozens). not gonna spoil it, but I managed after a few tries, so it's definitely doable.