A purr-fect escape from the weekly grind
By Paul Hunter
Garfield has been hating Mondays and loving lasagna forever at this point, no matter if it's in the comics, cartoons, movies, and a pretty long list of games. Garfield – Escape from Monday puts him back in a 3D platformer, with OSome Studio developing and Microids publishing the game, and yes, he still hates Mondays, this time perhaps more than ever.
I was pretty happy to see him back in a new game as I grew up with Garfield and can relate to wanting to eat food and be lazy all day long. A mascot platformer is the perfect type of game for Garfield, as there's something fun about running around colourful stages and grabbing anything that looks edible ...err, collectable. Having Garfield complain his way through the whole thing only makes it better.
So, can our cat finally beat Monday? Let’s find out!
Chef Monday wants Garfield to start eating healthier food, and Garfield, naturally, thinks this is a terrible idea.
I got a kick out of how seriously Garfield treats the whole vegetable-lasagna situation. I'm not a big fan of vegetable lasagna either, so for me it's just a weird dinner. For him, though, it's bad enough to turn his entire world upside down. Fortunately, Jon and Odie pop up during the story with advice and help, giving him some familiar company while Chef Monday keeps nagging him to eat heslthier.
The writing is at its funniest when Garfield starts breaking the fourth wall and talking about the fact that he is inside a video game dream. He complains about video game tropes, takes little shots at the developers behind the situation, and generally acts nonchalantly since the whole bad dream situation is nothing but a game to escape from.
This setup works really well for Garfield, since he's not the heroic type anyways. He is still lazy, sarcastic, hungry, and mostly annoyed that somebody messed with his lasagna.
Cutscenes show up between some levels and give Chef Monday another chance to wind him up. A few conversations run slightly long, though I still enjoyed the back-and-forth enough to keep watching them.
The story stays silly from beginning to end, and that is exactly why I enjoyed it so much. Garfield has a ridiculous problem, he complains about it constantly, and we get plenty of laughs watching him be himself.
Garfield has a good range of moves. You can run, jump, wall jump, dive, roll, kick enemies, and use a ground-pound. I used the roll constantly because it gives you a nice burst of speed and works well when you need to make a longer jump to reach the next platform.
Combat is pretty simple, which is totally fine here. Most enemies go down with a few kicks or ground-pound, while some encounters let you smack enemy projectiles back or send one enemy flying into another.
The stages are usually fairly linear, though some give you enough room to wander around and check side paths. I liked that balance because you never knew if the next stage would have a straightforward goal with new challenges, or it would be a bit more open-spaced and ripe for collectible exploration.
Food pick-ups, which are abundent and this game's version of coins or Wumpa fruit, fill the Yum-o-Meter after completing stages. Filling it awards lasagna pieces that are then used toward furniture for Jon’s house. Full lasagnas are hidden around the stages as well, although some split apart into individual pasta sheets, so you need to scoop up every piece before the whole collectable counts.
The three suits, which progressively unlock as you play through the game, are where the gameplay gets even better. The Turkey suit gives Garfield a double jump and glide, the Surfer suit lets him travel across water, and the Cowboy suit gives him a lasso for grappling up to higher spots.
I had fun with all three because they actually significantly change how you move through their stages. Even better, level designs change to take advantage of your new suit abilities, so they change up the gameplay and challenges quite a bit. For example, Turkey suit levels are built around having extra freedom in the air, while the Cowboy suit levels has you looking upward for grapple points instead of only watching the ground ahead.
Later on, the game starts throwing in 2D sections, tighter jumps, and optional stages that demand better timing. The game is still pretty forgiving overall because food (which is found everywhere) restores health and falling usually puts you close to where you messed up, which made retrying trickier jumps a lot less annoying.
Once you finish a stage, time attack gives you another reason to go back and try to get a faster time. Jon’s house is another fun side activity since you can unlock furniture, decorate several rooms, and swap different furniture or display choices as you collect more.
I liked how ridiculous some of the scenery gets. Since everything is happening inside Garfield’s dream, the game can take ordinary food and turn it into giant food scenery or hazards without needing to explain much.
Garfield also looks great in action. His facial expressions and body language match his jokes, and he usually looks mildly annoyed about whatever is happening around him. It's pretty much exactly how Garfield should look.
His voice, however, took a little getting used to. It sounded a bit different then the Garfield voice I remember, though the delivery still works with his sarcasm and I noticed it less the longer I played.
The PS5 version also ran extremely well for me. Everything stayed buttery smooth, I never hit any noticeable performance problems, even during the busier boss fights.
The colourful stages, funny character animation, and smooth performance all fit the game nicely. It looks like Garfield’s worst food nightmare, and that is about the best compliment I can give it.
Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Developer: OSome Studio
Publisher: Microids
Genre: Platformer
Modes: Single-player
By Paul Hunter
Garfield has been hating Mondays and loving lasagna forever at this point, no matter if it's in the comics, cartoons, movies, and a pretty long list of games. Garfield – Escape from Monday puts him back in a 3D platformer, with OSome Studio developing and Microids publishing the game, and yes, he still hates Mondays, this time perhaps more than ever.
I was pretty happy to see him back in a new game as I grew up with Garfield and can relate to wanting to eat food and be lazy all day long. A mascot platformer is the perfect type of game for Garfield, as there's something fun about running around colourful stages and grabbing anything that looks edible ...err, collectable. Having Garfield complain his way through the whole thing only makes it better.
So, can our cat finally beat Monday? Let’s find out!
Story and Narrative
Garfield’s nightmare starts with a very Garfield problem. He opens the fridge, finds vegetable lasagna inside, eats it, and ends up stuck in a vegetable-filled dream controlled by Chef Monday.Chef Monday wants Garfield to start eating healthier food, and Garfield, naturally, thinks this is a terrible idea.
I got a kick out of how seriously Garfield treats the whole vegetable-lasagna situation. I'm not a big fan of vegetable lasagna either, so for me it's just a weird dinner. For him, though, it's bad enough to turn his entire world upside down. Fortunately, Jon and Odie pop up during the story with advice and help, giving him some familiar company while Chef Monday keeps nagging him to eat heslthier.
The writing is at its funniest when Garfield starts breaking the fourth wall and talking about the fact that he is inside a video game dream. He complains about video game tropes, takes little shots at the developers behind the situation, and generally acts nonchalantly since the whole bad dream situation is nothing but a game to escape from.
This setup works really well for Garfield, since he's not the heroic type anyways. He is still lazy, sarcastic, hungry, and mostly annoyed that somebody messed with his lasagna.
Cutscenes show up between some levels and give Chef Monday another chance to wind him up. A few conversations run slightly long, though I still enjoyed the back-and-forth enough to keep watching them.
The story stays silly from beginning to end, and that is exactly why I enjoyed it so much. Garfield has a ridiculous problem, he complains about it constantly, and we get plenty of laughs watching him be himself.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Garfield – Escape from Monday is a solo 3D platformer with more than 40 stages spread across three food-themed worlds. You pick stages from an overworld, head toward the exit, and usually end up wandering off because something tasty nearby looks worth grabbing (or is it munching).Garfield has a good range of moves. You can run, jump, wall jump, dive, roll, kick enemies, and use a ground-pound. I used the roll constantly because it gives you a nice burst of speed and works well when you need to make a longer jump to reach the next platform.
Combat is pretty simple, which is totally fine here. Most enemies go down with a few kicks or ground-pound, while some encounters let you smack enemy projectiles back or send one enemy flying into another.
The stages are usually fairly linear, though some give you enough room to wander around and check side paths. I liked that balance because you never knew if the next stage would have a straightforward goal with new challenges, or it would be a bit more open-spaced and ripe for collectible exploration.
Food pick-ups, which are abundent and this game's version of coins or Wumpa fruit, fill the Yum-o-Meter after completing stages. Filling it awards lasagna pieces that are then used toward furniture for Jon’s house. Full lasagnas are hidden around the stages as well, although some split apart into individual pasta sheets, so you need to scoop up every piece before the whole collectable counts.
The three suits, which progressively unlock as you play through the game, are where the gameplay gets even better. The Turkey suit gives Garfield a double jump and glide, the Surfer suit lets him travel across water, and the Cowboy suit gives him a lasso for grappling up to higher spots.
I had fun with all three because they actually significantly change how you move through their stages. Even better, level designs change to take advantage of your new suit abilities, so they change up the gameplay and challenges quite a bit. For example, Turkey suit levels are built around having extra freedom in the air, while the Cowboy suit levels has you looking upward for grapple points instead of only watching the ground ahead.
Later on, the game starts throwing in 2D sections, tighter jumps, and optional stages that demand better timing. The game is still pretty forgiving overall because food (which is found everywhere) restores health and falling usually puts you close to where you messed up, which made retrying trickier jumps a lot less annoying.
Once you finish a stage, time attack gives you another reason to go back and try to get a faster time. Jon’s house is another fun side activity since you can unlock furniture, decorate several rooms, and swap different furniture or display choices as you collect more.
Presentation and Audio
The dream worlds you explore are bright, colourful, and packed with oversized food. The look just like they're straight out of the Garfield animated show, so the visuals are quite nice here. There are theee worlds to discover, including ones themed around vegetables, candy, and barbecue items, so every world has its own distinct look.I liked how ridiculous some of the scenery gets. Since everything is happening inside Garfield’s dream, the game can take ordinary food and turn it into giant food scenery or hazards without needing to explain much.
Garfield also looks great in action. His facial expressions and body language match his jokes, and he usually looks mildly annoyed about whatever is happening around him. It's pretty much exactly how Garfield should look.
His voice, however, took a little getting used to. It sounded a bit different then the Garfield voice I remember, though the delivery still works with his sarcasm and I noticed it less the longer I played.
The PS5 version also ran extremely well for me. Everything stayed buttery smooth, I never hit any noticeable performance problems, even during the busier boss fights.
The colourful stages, funny character animation, and smooth performance all fit the game nicely. It looks like Garfield’s worst food nightmare, and that is about the best compliment I can give it.
The Verdict
Garfield – Escape from Monday is a really fun 3D platformer, and I had a great time with it. Controlling Garfield is enjoyable, the collectables keep exploration interesting, and the suits change things up at the right times. I also loved the sarcastic writing and how much Garfield personality comes through during the adventure. The forgiving difficulty keeps everything relaxed, while optional challenges gives experienced gamers like me something extra to tackle. With excellent PS5 performance on top, this is an easy recommendation for Garfield and platformer fans.Final Score: 7.5/10 - Good
Garfield – Escape from Monday details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: OSome Studio
Publisher: Microids
Genre: Platformer
Modes: Single-player