Fever Meme Review (PC)

Fever Meme is a child in disguise—the reckless and untamed digital embodiment of the timeless saying of, “don’t throw your toys out of the pram”—a furious expression frequently muttered by parents who know full well that there are too many of said toys, to begin with. And annoyingly, I think I’m on the verge of giving it a standing ovation. I don’t think it’s because it’s a good game, or that it brings all of these clustered toys together to create one incredible masterpiece, but because it puts the middle finger up to orthodox game design—a statutory salute to illogical ideas and jumbled jargon without context. It doesn’t stick to just the one thing; on the contrary, it takes a leaf out of countless books and compiles them into one mixed encyclopedia with one too many entries. And you know what? It works. Well, sort of.

I’d love to be able to describe Fever Meme in a few words, but the bitter truth is, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t explain it, mainly due to the fact that it isn’t a game-game, so to speak, but more of a love letter to rebellion—an ode to numerous strands of lore and mismatched concepts. Is it a horror? Maybe. Is it your family-friendly platforming affair? Who knows. Is it a tree with oh-so many branches—so many that, quite frankly, it doesn’t quite know what to do with half of them? Absolutely. Yet, I admire the effort. Like its title suggests, a fever dream is a fitting description, and its thanks to its turnstile of moving parts that I have no idea what else to call it, truly. A+ for piquing our curiosity, then.

*Word Limit Exceeded*

I suppose when all’s said and done, Fever Meme is, first and foremost, a first-person choose-your-own adventure-type game. Immediately, it extracts DNA from The Stanley Parable, which was of course a narrative-driven story that allowed its users to break the fourth wall and step way beyond the veil. Well, the same situation applies in this rather unusual corridor hopper. Similarly, the game itself strives to poke fun at game design, not necessarily by making bad choices or implementing shoddy mechanics, but by granting its visitors the opportunity to peek further into the inner workings of a convoluted cortex with a surplus of loose screws and questionable visual effects. And believe me,  I know that’s an incredibly vague way to describe it. But, like The Stanley Parable, it’s a case where you have to see it to understand it. And even then…

Fever Meme has a lot of moving parts, and therefore, it doesn’t make a proper effort to construct a timeline of plausible events for you to carve out to develop one overarching narrative or theory. In the one minute, you could be waltzing into a death trap of a blazing inferno, whereas in another, you could just find yourself stumbling through the transparent walls into a completely different setting where another obstacle awaits your input. The fact here is that, no matter how hard you try to understand the way things work and how to build a portrait outlining the most important aspects, nothing really makes much sense, anyway — so it’s fair game all around. Is that a good thing? Maybe. Either way, there’s an extra ten points for unpredictability. Well played…I think.

…I Meant to Do That

I cannot for the life of me find a valid reason why I should praise the graphics behind Fever Meme. Okay, so while they’re not dreadful, they are painfully dull and minimal compared to a lot of alternate indie platforming-type…things. For example, the bulk of the game takes place in relatively large areas, most of which feature little to no intricate details or items of interest whatsoever. And while a lot of these artistic choices are intentional, it doesn’t change the fact that, from a design standpoint, it’s still ludicrously tough to gaze at. But maybe that’s the point. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that one out myself. The point is, with so many concepts in its world, you’d have though that it would be capable to adding a little extra flair into the cauldron. Alas, there isn’t.

On the bright side, Fever Meme offers so many unexpecting moments that it’s actually quite easy to lose yourself to the image that it strives to capture. Granted, it isn’t mechanically complex, nor is it teeming with revolutionary visual FX or innovative design techniques. That said, it does take a jab at a lot of interesting things, with structurally inadequate framework being its bread and butter. It also makes an attempt to pool assets from a myriad of different genres, too, thus marketing itself as more of a Game Jam IP with its toes dipped into an archipelago of bubbling molten craters. Does it do any of these genres justice? Eh, not really, no. But it does it all anyway, because why the heck not?

Verdict

Fever Meme is no doubt the culmination of a lot of caffeine-induced Game Jam sessions and rebellious quips from a sprightly developer who just couldn’t care less about building a structurally sound platform for themselves to stand on. It does some things right, just the same as it does some things wrong. It’s telling the difference between the two sides of the coin, that’s the hard part. Is it a good game? Gee, maybe — I don’t know. Is it even really a game, or is it a surrealist art installation that serves only to invoke a certain kind of emotion? It’s a lot of things, I’ll leave it at that.

At this point, I wouldn’t blame you if you were still as equally confused about the whole thing as I am. Perhaps, then, the best option for you moving forward  is to, well, endure Fever Meme for yourself. A quick word of advice, though: if you’re hoping to delve deep into a full-fledged video game with stellar visuals and gameplay mechanics, then I imagine you’ll be sorely disappointed with just about everything that calls this self-contained repository a home away from home. If, however, you’ve nothing else to lose, and just so happen to have a few dollars to spare, then sure — I’d recommend splurging on…whatever this is. Take it all with a huge pinch of salt, though.