The classic childhood game ‘the floor is lava’ meets Fall Guys in this battle royale for survival.
New from developer Garden of Dreams, Up or Lava is a competitive online 3D platformer with crossplay where players race to complete courses using parkour to escape continually rising lava.
OcUK Marketing Assistant Emma Hewitt reviewed Up or Lava on her Ryzen-based gaming Laptop.
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3750H |
| GPU | NVIDIA RTX 2060 |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
Choose Your Character
At the opening screen, there are 16 preconfigured characters to pick from, each with their own back story! Choose from athletic, military, and astronaut-themed characters, each with their own unique sense of style.
Possibly our favourite character is Valerie the Vixen. Described as Barbie’s muscular sister, Valerie has an athletic build, complete with an entirely pink suit. Character choices are purely cosmetic, so the preference is all yours. (But we think you should go for Valerie anyway!)
While there are 16 characters to choose from, the variety between them is limited, and as character selection provides no additional buffs. We would have liked to have some customisation options.
Gameplay
Gameplay falls into two categories. Parkour, where players must navigate through levels of a course to escape the rising lava; and DFIL (Don’t Fall in Lava), which offers a last man standing approach, allowing you to kick your way to victory while the floor crumbles beneath your competitors. Each game mode provides four levels, varying in difficulty and lobby size.
As you enter a match for the first time, you are presented with a countdown lobby, allowing you to become familiar with the controls on the screen. The movement controls are standard, using WASD to move, space to jump, and your mouse to operate the camera. Additional buttons allow you to kick opponents and interact with your surroundings to set traps to hinder your competitors.
Once a match has begun, the top of the screen features your ranking, time taken to complete the course or how long you’ve survived (depending on game mode), and the height/level you’re currently at. Knowing the height you’ve reached can provide a sense of pride, but also hurt if you misstep and fall to much lower levels.
Each mode allows you to move around freely, with the choice of how best to navigate your way to survival up to you. Certain modes, such as ‘Parkour Run’, offer suggested routes, with arrows indicating their difficulty. Choose the easier yet longer path, or a chance to risk it all and avoid your volcanic peril the hard way.
Each map has challenging obstacles that can hinder your progression, from spinning stiles to fans pushing you back, or even temporary floors that fall away from your feet. Not only do you have to be aware of your opponents, but also how the environment is fighting against you too! Maps include pre-determined obstacles, in addition to traps set by your opponents.
In terms of art style, characters are detailed while the environment, depending on the map, offers a simplified low-poly aesthetic. It works well for this type of game. The environment is detailed enough to provide a scene while allowing the game to run easily.
TLDR
Up or Lava, is a fun, budget-friendly, simplistic, yet competitive game where enjoyment increases with lobby size. Games are quick to set up, and levels are easy to navigate, whilst also challenging enough to engage your competitiveness. The inclusion of a leaderboard makes Up or Lava a great party game! However, without achievements to earn the game falls short of its potential for solo players.
Up or Lava PC Requirements
| Component | Windows | MacOS |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 7 | |
| Processor | Quad-core Intel / AMD processor, 2 GHz | Intel Core2Duo E7400 |
| Memory | 4GB | 4 GB RAM |
| Graphics | 2 GB VRAM | Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
| Network | Broadband Internet connection | Broadband Internet connection |
Up or Lava benefits from both a low price point and below average PC requirements, making it a great choice for a bit of a laugh. If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming PC with some shiny new PC components, or even pick up a pre-built, pre-tested, and ready-for-next-day delivery gaming PC, Overclockers UK has you covered!
Ready To Play?
Up or Lava is a great game to pick up and lose a couple of hours to. Let us know how high you make it in the comments.
- 4 min read
OcUK Guest Writer
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