''Metamorphosis'' is an adventure video game with platforming elements, inspired by the imagination of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

. The game was developed by Ovid Works and published by

All in! Games All in! Games SA is a video game publisher based in Kraków, Krakow, Poland. All in! Games publishes games on all main gaming platforms Personal computer, PC, PlayStation 4, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch) working on international projects.

on August 12, 2020. ''Metamorphosis'' is available on PC (

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and GOG),

PS4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in E ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, and

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

Development

The game is based on

's literary work, including '' The Metamorphosis'' (1915) and '' The Trial'' (1925).

Gameplay

The game is a first-person

puzzle platformer A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

in which players take the role of Gregor, a man who awakens after a hangover to find that he has been transformed into an insect. The game's setting is loosely based in the early 20th century. Gregor also learns that his friend Joseph has been arrested for unknown reasons.

Reception

The game had a mixed critical reception. It currently has a score of 69 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Ewan Wilson of

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

described the game's surreal atmosphere and focus on absurd bureaucracy to Terry Gilliam's 1985 film ''Brazil''. Christopher Byrd, in a review for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', described the game's humor and writing as a highpoint, but criticized the stiff character animations. Lara Arlotta of

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

praised the game's use of Kafka's work, but criticized its technical flaws and lack of replay value. Alex Santa Maria of ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' awarded the game 3 out of 5 stars, with praise for its visual design and gameplay but criticism for its story.

References

External links

Official website
{{The Metamorphosis 2020 video games First-person video games Nintendo Switch games Xbox One games PlayStation 4 games Windows games Video games developed in Poland Adventure games Platformers Video games about insects Video games based on novels All in! Games games