It’s a Wrap! is a combination puzzle-platforming game that will challenge you to navigate perilous platforming segments, as well as set them up beforehand. Using the game’s unique setting of a studio backlot, the game creates a unique kind of puzzle-platformer while delivering on the super-specific fantasy of being an action movie stuntman. It’s a kind of feeling I haven’t seen since Viewtiful Joe, and is incomparable in terms of gameplay to anything else on the market, at least that I know of.
As you may have guessed from the way I shoehorned in a Viewtiful Joe comparison in the opening paragraph. In It’s a Wrap! you play an up-and-coming actor making movies. Specifically, you play as Johnny Rush, who hopes to become a superstar actor in the era of 1980s filmmaking by starring in numerous action flicks. He also does all of his own stunts.
In a way, you also play as the director, trying to direct the scene and managing actors, props, and explosives to make the perfect scene come together. The way the game swaps you between Johnny and the Director is where the game’s intuitive design lies.
Each level is split into two parts, the Director’s Phase and the Action Phase. Though each phase is significantly different from the other, you’ll need to be able to use both correctly in order to pass each level in It’s a Wrap! You’ll often find yourself switching back and forth between the two a couple of times before you solve a puzzle.
You begin each level in the Director’s Phase with a screen that would look familiar to anyone who’s ever worked in video editing. From here, you control the timing of when traps activate, platforms fall into place, etc. This is all done as if you’re editing a piece of film.
Here you can also read the script, which will give you clues on how you’re supposed to run the platforming part of the level.
Then comes the Action Phase, where you play as Johnny Rush and have to actually navigate the platform sections. On an ideal movie set, Johnny would have to rely on nothing more than his stunt work, running, wall jumping, etc., to get through a scene. However, the start of each level will feature incorrect timing that makes the platforming impossible.
The idea is to figure out the exact timing you need for each obstacle in order to get Johnny Rush from one side of the screen to the other. To do this, you’ll be running through the level in action mode, seeing where things are too slow or too fast for Johnny to handle, and editing them in director mode. Like on any movie set, it’s going to take you more than a few takes before you get the scene down perfectly, and you’ll see Johnny take a lot of falls in the process.
If you’re having trouble progressing, you can use a hint that freezes one prop/obstacle/whatever you’d be controlling from director mode in place the way it’s supposed to be for you to proceed. Doing so can be an absolutely massive help, as having one piece in the right spot can help everything else fall into place. It’s a nice way to curb the difficulty down a bit if you’re having trouble.
Though the premise is interesting, I had trouble keeping my attention focused fairly quickly in my playthrough. After a while, the novelty of each level set up like a movie set began to grow old, and the reality of having to solve a puzzle and then execute a perfect platforming segment soon took over. After many, many retries, I found myself losing the motivation to complete each level, as the reward of completion simply didn’t feel worth it.
Each level, as you might have guessed by now, is a setpiece in a different movie, which all pay homage to classic popcorn flicks from the 1980s. References to Indiana Jones and Star Wars will especially stand out to you, and they’re lovingly mocked in cheap, off-brand imitations of the movies on set. I wanted to love these parodies, but the game has the unfortunate challenge of choosing franchises that have been parodied more than anything else on Earth. The game derives most of its humor from the premise of Johnny Rush being a D-list actor who constantly gets hurt, but you can tell the game wanted you to love these parodies, and I simply could not.
While the art style is cute, and the setting of an 80’s film set is pretty genius, I failed to fall in love with It’s a Wrap! None of its characters managed to move me or make me grow attached, with each one feeling a little dry or generally too friendly for my sake. I can only remember one character I really liked, and I don’t even recall her name.
A lot of effort seems to be put into the many ‘death’ animations that come with a failed shoot. Running into a fireball, falling down a pit, or being crushed by a rock all trigger a bit of slapstick humor as Johnny suffers from our mistakes. This effort is unfortunately wasted, as you’ll quickly be spamming the skip button each time you fail a level to quickly restart and try again, and these animations aren’t varied or interesting enough to keep you from doing so.
You don’t need loveable characters or a deep story to make a game like It’s a Wrap! work, but I found myself disinterested in the general puzzle gameplay too. Look, I’m not a huge puzzle fan, and I can definitely see this game having an audience. However, it failed to captivate my attention for the amount of time and effort needed to progress through each level and finish each of the three flicks.
The Final Word
It’s a Wrap! has a clever premise and some interesting mechanics, but they just weren’t enough to capture my attention long enough to complete each puzzle. Though I found myself growing bored of It’s a Wrap! quicker than I would most games, it is by no means a work of schlock and is sure to find a home in the Steam libraries of many puzzle enjoyers, especially those with a love of classic 80’s movies. It simply won’t be present in mine.
5
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Its a Wrap! is available on Steam, GoG, and Epic Games.