The Company Man Gameplay Preview

The Company Man is an action platformer about a salaryman’s first day on the job. He manages to get demoted right away so things are not looking good for our salaryman. The game is about our protagonist fighting his way (quite literally) to get paid and make it in climbing the corporate ladder.

The game is definitely chock full of very silly and poignant humor about our current work culture. Sometimes it does hit a little too close to home as I’ve definitely experienced some of the situations mentioned in the game in actual jobs.

As for the game play, it’s a very responsive and stylish platformer. Your character starts off with a melee attack and one ranged attack. The melee is a swipe with a keyboard and the ranged attack is a strongly worded email. There’s nothing quite like a strongly worded email to attack your coworkers from a distance. The ranged attack has limited charges that refill over time. As you defeat more bosses, you will unlock more attacks.

Combined with the attacks are a jump and dash to help you navigate the levels and avoid enemy attacks. There are a lot of very silly and metaphorical enemies such as fire breathing secretaries, ladies hiding behind speakers, chair jockeys fooling around when the boss isn’t looking, and so on. The game does a pretty good job of introducing new enemies at a nice pace and making each one feel pretty unique in how you approach them.

The game feels pretty generous in terms of difficulty as there are coffee stations that refill your health completely in between enemy encounters. Coffee is indeed life for the overworked and underpaid. The game feels challenging enough but you’ll never be dying constantly.

At the end of the level is a boss encounter. They are usually very silly and the attacks are very stylish. One of them spins around an intern very quickly to fly and also throw them at you for attacks. Its all very funny and the art style works well for the game.

After finishing a floor, you return to the lobby area where you can buy permanent upgrades with the coins you earn from defeating enemies and finally getting paid by defeating the boss. The upgrades can range from increasing your health and energy meters, to being able to destroy small projectiles with your melee attack.

Overall, The Company Man is a pretty fun platformer. It looks very stylish and the platforming and combat feel pretty responsive. The game isn’t too difficult but it’s no cake walk either. It’s the perfect difficulty where you can play through the game once in a timely manner. The humor and game play mesh well together to create an enjoyable experience.