Jet Kave Adventure Review (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch & PC)

If you were to open up a book on historical events pertaining to the Stone Age, then there’s a good chance that you’d find an entire column dedicated entirely to alien civilizations, robotic armies, and jetpack-sporting cavemen. Well, not really — but in the minds of the folks over at 7Levels, this is what could’ve occurred centuries ago, as made clear in its 2.5D side-scrolling game, Jet Kave Adventure. In full disclosure, this is not a vessel for a conspiracy theory; the developer knows all too well that such a concept is equally as bonkers as its on-screen counterpart. Sad times.

So, what is Jet Kave Adventure, if not a love letter to an unwritten verse in a world encyclopedia? Well, for starters, it’s a satirical piece of work that bases its world around cavemen, as well as their desires to evolve and, for some reason, launch epic feuds with an alien species — one of which has solid plans to extract the power source from a volcano and eradicate an era that’s only just beginning to come into its own. Sure enough, the power of fire is scarce, but the futuristic flares of a jetpack are weirdly commonplace — and that’s just the way it is, apparently. Go figure.

For the record, Jet Kave Adventure is not a new game,  but rather, a piece of art that has recently found its place amongst the PlayStation fan base. If, however, you’ve yet to factor the jetpack-obsessed primate into your catalog, then be sure to read on. Here’s everything you need to know about 7Levels’ Stone Age-centric oddball.

To Evolve is to Soar, Apparently

Jet Kave Adventure invites you to fill the woven boots of Kave, a former chief of a tribe who, for some apparent reason, has been banished into the wilderness, and essentially left to pick at the bare bones of an uncivilized society. But there’s an issue: a nest of aliens have plummeted into the surface, and have decided to utilize the nearby volcano’s power source in order to reboot their vessel and set a new course for an alternate location. This isn’t a bad thing, by any means, but it is a plan that, unfortunately, means having to let your former primates burn to death in volcanic ash. Bummer.

There is, of course, a silver lining etched into the slate: Kave, although undoubtedly clumsy and without the gift of hindsight, has access to a spare jetpack—a futuristic device that can not only allow him to soar, but to take full advantage of its brutal powers and abilities. Your goal, to be clear, is to take said jetpack, and follow the evil aliens to the apex of the volcano before they acquire the nodes needed to make their world-shattering plans a reality. And if you think that’s weird, then wait till you get a load of the gameplay mechanics. Suffice it to say that, from the outside looking in, it’s a friggin’ strange game, and one that, weirdly enough, has the potential to be memorable, for better or for worse.

Let’s Jet

Jet Kave Adventure is broken up into 36 levels, with each stage featuring a wide array of environmental obstacles to overcome, enemies to outrun, and dinosaurs to touch gloves with. For the most part, trials involve having to glide over treacherous terrain, wreaking havoc on shoddy mountainsides, and carving through the occasional threat, be it a towering mammoth or a flesh-deprived tyrannosaurus. All of these assets are equally spread out into a journey that, if you’re one for romping through the motions with little to no breaks, will take somewhere between three to four hours to complete, give or take.

Mechanic-wise, there isn’t a huge amount to onboard, as it’s merely the case of hacking, dashing, and leaping across a number of set pieces, and ultimately arriving at a destination that either involves having to face off with a boss, or simply moving onto the next portion of the map to edge a little closer to the volcanic area. On that note, pretty much anyone can pick up and play this one — even those with no prior experience in the side-scrolling department, thanks to a lot of its controls being simplified and somewhat easy to navigate.

Generic controls cast aside, there are a couple of features that require a slightly more hands-on approach, such as an ability that allows you to slow down time and choose a point to warp to. Granted, it isn’t anything overly complex, though it does invite you to plan ahead during combat encounters—a phase that’s often difficult to bypass by simply powering through with little to no effort whatsoever. Aside from that, there isn’t a lot to fret about, as the remainder of the game is all rather by-the-numbers and linear.

A World of Bone and Bushes

As with any side-scrolling game, Jet Kave Adventure does come with its own share of issues, one of which is its graphics. To put it bluntly, the world, as a whole, isn’t all that pleasant to look at, let alone return to once the story has been wrapped up and the credits have parted ways with the climax. Sure, it’s a little fun to look at in short bursts, but that doesn’t change the fact that, when it comes to character models and backdrops, things aren’t always pleasing to the naked eye — especially in moments that isolate the primary character and one or two of their surrounding set pieces. This isn’t to say that it’s appallingly bad, but given the sheer lack of diversity in the textures region, it does make it slightly tougher pill to swallow.

The good news is, the game does at least flow, and with little to no technical faults to spoil the overall immersion, this does make for a pleasant surprise. At no point did I have to eject myself from the story to tweak a few settings, or even drop out of the game altogether to reboot it, for that matter. And sure, whilst the journey, in general, was a short one, it was still one that I had a blast playing. Does that warrant a second attempt? Meh, I’m still not convinced, though I’d also be lying if I said I regretted the initial run, too.

Don’t get me wrong, there are several things that I would’ve liked to have seen implemented into the framework — a wider variety of locations, being the first. Aside from that, a cleaner-looking environment would’ve been a neat addition, and perhaps a few more characters that weren’t straight-up clones of other enemies or NPCs. But I’m nitpicking.

Verdict

As the saying goes: if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Such is the case with 7Levels’ Jet Kave Adventure; it plays it safe by adopting a lot of the same mechanics and elements as the vast majority of alternate popular side-scrolling games. Does its inclusion of a jetpack make it better than the bog-standard 2.5D game? No, not really — but I will give credit where it’s due and say that, all things considered, it is a neat addition, albeit a comical and somewhat strange one that does tend to lose its appeal after a dozen or more stages into the campaign.

I will say this: the latter half of the campaign isn’t quite nearly as enjoyable as the first, mainly down to the fact that the settings begin to linger and often fail to open up new doorways for other innovations. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad half, but once the novelty of a jetpack-loving caveman begins to wear thin, it does, in ways, become a case of having to sift through the motions just to reach the conclusion—a climax that, in all honesty, could’ve arrived a lot sooner. At just four hours in length, though, I can also see why the developers opted to broaden the scope and cram in as much as the vessel could take. Having said that, quantity over quality doesn’t necessarily translate into a genuinely great product — especially one that’s based around a lot of the same ingredients.

To cut to the chase, if you are on the market for a quirky side-scrolling game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then there’s a good chance that you’ll find something to enjoy in this prehistoric world. But, eh, don’t expect it to break the fourth wall or anything.