It’s hard to walk down a street in Melbourne without coming across random graffiti tags littered on every surface. I often wonder “Who does this tag belong to? Is it some 50 year old guy who has been tagging for years or some teenager armed with angst and a spray can?” Well, we may be able to get more of an insight into the mind of a tagger with the new game, Sludge Life.
The game, published by Devolver Digital and developed by Terri Vellmann (High Hell) is set on an island… well, that is covered in sludge. This seems to be symbolic of it’s inhabitants who all look like they’re seen better days and don’t have too much respect for authority of any kind. From what I’ve seen in the clip, these characters remind me of those found in GTA: San Andreas. Full of swagger, aggression and ready to fight for their right to do what ever the hell they want!
You play as GHOST, a tagger who is aiming to be the best of the best. You’ll roam around in this open-world first person narrative, meet up with other taggers, look at cats with two buttholes (which the developers have said they have put in the game “at no extra charge”) and shoot some hoops. You can also download apps onto your laptop to play games within the actual game.
The island is covered in sludge due to the dodgy chemical company GLUG, and throughout your adventure you can find out secrets about the company and even try to infiltrate these bad guys if you wish. There are three different endings, which the press release hinted may be either becoming THE top dog tagger, bringing down GLUG, or taking the whole island “down in flames with you.”
The game’s soundtrack has been written by Doseone, the American rapper and artist who is the co-founder of hip-hop label, Anticon. The beats found in the Sludge Life trailer have upbeat instrumentals with a low baritone voice mumbling incomprehensible lyrics. To me this voice sounds very much like Chef from South Park… if Issac Hayes had a very bad cold. It brings a sense of silly fun that matches the crudely drawn graphics.
Sludge Life is available on Epic Games store on the 19th of April, 2020 and on Nintendo Switch at a later date in 2020.
About the Author
Lisa Pollifroni
she/her
PS5/PC gamer with a passion for RPGs . Other obsessions include eating/making good food, reading, Queer history/theory and puppies, especially her own - a Beagle Staffy x rescue named Boo.
