Review of 'Peak' by Aggro Crab and Landfall

You’ve been looking forward to this camping trip for months and now you’re finally on the plane! Yawning you lean back and close your eyes ready to enjoy the ride. When you open your eyes, you’re stranded on a beach with charred plane remains scattered around you. Hopefully you brought a friend with you to help you survive in the wilderness, the only way out of this is by going to the Peak!

Peak is a four-player co-op game by Aggro Crab and Landfall where you must climb treacherous terrain to get to the top a mountain and signal for help. Making it to the top of this behemoth of a mountain is just as hard as you think it’s going to be. There are five biomes to traverse to get to the peak.

Starting on the Shore you can take time to play around the burning plane wreck before searching through abandoned luggage to find some useful items like rope, and maybe a baggie of trail mix to motivate you. The Shore also provides its own natural yummy treats like coconuts that you climb trees to retrieve. It kind of feels like climbing practice. In order to open the coconuts, you can throw them at rocks or at your friends. The beach isn’t all fun and games; it’s full of poisonous creatures like jellyfish you can slip on and sea urchins waiting to give you a little stab. As the cold fog rolls in you scramble your way up the sandy mountain to the next biome.

For a moment the Tropics feel like a lush paradise where you can swing from the treetops or forage on the ground. Here you can start foraging for for mushrooms because by now you’re sick of heavy coconuts rolling around in your bag. Slowly the larger dangers make themselves known, not all the food is friendly and there’s more deadly snacks than non-deadly. You know you’re going to taste test them all and you’ll get a scout’s badge for your sacrifice. There is a fruit that will blow up before you can put your hands on it. Watch your step around it. It rains in short bursts in the Tropics during which rocks become slippery and nearly impossible to climb. Large twisting trunks sprout from the ground to help you reach the next campfire, but some have large poisonous spikes. The Tropics are dripping in poison.

From the heat and humidity to a frigid breeze the next biome is the Alpine, a frozen tundra. The worst part about this biome is the harsh wind that blows through every few minutes. You packed for a tropical vacation not the arctic so when the breeze blows through you feel it’s full effects. Frostbite eats away at your stamina; your stiff limbs make climbing more difficult. You can avoid the wind by hiding in small crevices along the mountain or use a lantern to warm yourself and get rid of the frozen buff invading your stamina bar. You can also find handwarmers in the Alpine zone to keep your hands from freezing. Most of the ice on these cliffs is harmless and surprisingly won’t affect your climbing skills. Watch out for the dark blue patches of rock in this zone, they’re extra cold and will give your hands frost bite. If you’re having a lucky run, you may find a hot springs with cute capybara that will let you hang out with them to weather the storm. There’s a rumor that they like music so if you can, take the bugle to them and play with all your heart.

Don’t worry if the small campfire at the top of the Alpine zone isn’t enough to warm you up, the next biome will do the trick, Caldera! Time to play the floor is lava and jump from rock to rock avoiding falling and becoming extra crispy. Hopefully you’ve mastered jumping by now because you must move fast. Every few seconds one of the rocks will randomly start to glow before bursting into flames hot enough to burn any camper to ashes. You may stumble across giant eggs while traversing the jagged rocks, they are edible and quickly cook into the perfect sunny side up egg when cracked open.

The Kiln is the most treacherous biome. Looking up you can see the clear sky above you and it feels like the journey is almost over, safety is within reach. As you make your vow to never mountain climb again you start to feel how far away the end truly is. The Kiln feels like it never ends, and it gets harder and harder to find safe foot holds as you work your way up the walls avoiding hot lava rocks that will burn you and eat into your stamina. You’ll need every drop of stamina you have. There is one suitcase to be found in the middle of the Kiln. From there you must use the items you’ve collected on your journey to their full potential. Chains are especially helpful for the Kiln.

Flying away to safety on the rescue chopper you receive a badge for all your hard work, and hopefully some snacks.

Peak is a simple, but very entertaining game that I recommend you play with a group of friends, because who you climb with makes the journey even more memorable. No one wants to go crazy on a mountain alone, you might as well go crazy while talking to the ghosts of your pals who didn’t listen in survival training. I think the spectator mechanic is funny and keeps deceased players as part of the game. The good news for clumsy climbers is that at every campfire check point there is a statue that can revive them. Revived campers will experience a permanent de-buff that eats into their stamina bar, but it’s a reminder to tread more carefully. With a second chance at life, any camper should be filled with new vigor!

Every 24 hours a new mountain map spawns helping Peaks replay ability. Even if you were to perfectly map out the best climbing route one day the next day is a whole new adventure, and I like that. I’ve been playing about two rounds a day and it never feels stale; I’ve had to create a different strategy every day. I personally think the Shore is the hardest biome to start maybe because the start of a journey is so important. It feels daunting every time I feel like the Shore sets the tone for the whole climb. Peak has unlockable clothes, facial features, and badges you can show off to other campers to brag about your adventures. Badges can be earned by completing different tasks like trying several different foraged fruits on one climb. With all the unlockable clothes you can create a camper character that perfectly matches you, I’m very attached to my camper I feel like I created a piece of my soul.

Skip the sunburn and real bugs this summer and spend time on a beautiful mountain meant to test your survival skills in Peak! Grab your friends and throw a few banana peels on the ground for giggles. If you fall enough times, you may be inspired to touch real grass. Don’t forget to take Bing Bong to the top!