The Otterman Empire

The Otterman Empire is a pretty simple game, both in terms of gameplay and design. With its simple character and level design, The Otterman Empire feels like a homage to the video game heyday of anthropomorphic animals appearing in everything. On the surface The Otterman Empire even feels like a Gamecube or PlayStation 2 game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Those of us wanting a simple couch multiplayer game will find a lot of The Otterman Empire appealing despite its apparent flaws.

Despite having cute otters, The Otterman Empire doesn't work out. The speed at which you deplete your ammo makes shooting more of a chore than fun, while your low health pool and inability to tell where enemies are shooting from means that you'll be going through the respawn sequence far too often. The squirrelly controls don't help matters, and while the local multiplayer is appreciated, the lack of online play hurts the game's potential longevity. For the time being, pass on this one.

If The Otterman Empire had clearer objectives, tighter gameplay, and more player feedback then it would have been a very cool indie.

The Otterman Empire is a repetitive third-person shooter that's more work than play with clunky controls and unpolished graphics.

A colourful third person party shooter with adorable aquatic characters, Otterman Empire is rough around the edges with a tutorial that does more harm than good. The single player and co-op game play flits between fun and pedestrian while the Versus mode might as well be the games saving grace.

The Otterman Empire is a generally enjoyable experience that’s great for the younger audience, featuring a fine selection of mission content and some really fun competitive multiplayer.

Despite its flaws, The Otterman Empire shows a lot of promise and delivers some really fun co-op play – if you can overlook its issues.

There's a weird sort of effect where when you see a promo for a game you envision a certain type of play, and when the style doesn't fit your concept it can be disappointing...

I couldn’t help dream about what this game could be. With the fun gameplay, the jet packs and swimming in water I pinned for a full blow 3D platformer with a bigger story and massive worlds to explore. Unfortunately game development is very expensive and the development team here clearly put a lot of passion into this project with limited resources. One hopes this game is a stepping stone to bigger projects down the road. Staring otters still – of course. The Otterman Empire will not be everyone’s cup of tea/coffee. If you’re able to look past some rough textures and gameplay hiccups there’s something quite special here to enjoy alone or with some friends. It has one major accolade to its name – its easily the best otter game available on Switch!