En route to a high school reunion, four friends run into a seemingly endless horde of creatures. Despite being archetypes that probably wouldn’t have hung out in high school, they seem to work well together in disposing of these monsters. The cool guy and gal, the nerd and the jock must traverse a 2.5D environment to arrive at their reunion in order to compare their post high school achievements.
Final Exam can be played solo but the marketing and gameplay are clearly geared toward 2-4 player coop. Many of the environments involve a pair of dimensions but at times stairs, ledges, platforms etc require half a dimension to interact with. Bashing and shooting are the primary functions with simple objectives included. Acquiring gas cans, power supplies, vehicle and weapon parts are integral to completing areas. Having at least one coop buddy allows you to split up and gather items. The trade-off of course is that in combat there’s strength in numbers. The ability to ride larger vehicles and segments forcing you to dodge rapidly approaching hazards adds some variety to the stages.
Many of the enemies require way too many strikes, bullets or grenades to kill. Knocking the most basic creature to the floor and bludgeoning them another ten times to kill them was not enjoyable. Perhaps a deeper combo system could have alleviated that tedium and frustration. While your characters do have several skill trees, the combo system leaves a lot to be desired. The press X/Square button 3 times combo got old really fast. This is where the coop saves the day. Final Exam played alone is enjoyable but having a friend around makes all the difference in the world.
Developer: Mighty Rocket Studio
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Genre: Coop focused – Beat ’em up, Shooter, Platformer
Price: $9.99 Buy it if you plan to play with strangers or friends, preferably friends
Platform(s): Xbox 360, XBLA, PS3, PSN, PC, Steam
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