The mad Professor Lupo is set on selling his horrible pets to the worst of the worst! But something goes terribly wrong and now they're all on the loose! Too bad he didn't train them not to eat you...
Pull up a chair boys and girls, because I'm about to tell you about one of the more crazier games I've ran up on in a quite the while. Professor Lupo and His Horrible Pets come to us from BeautiFun Games, the masterminds behind the other mastermind!
Professor Lupo is...well...he's a very bad man. Not the kind of bad man that does things for himself, but the kind of bad man that supplies those that do the very bad things. He's traveled across the galaxy collecting horrible monsters...or 'pets' and intends to sell them as live weapons to the highest bidder in a circle of black market warlords. The winner will take home an army fit enough to conquer--alien monsters that want nothing more than a tasty human-shaped snack.
As Professor Lupo's plan comes to light, the worst of the worst gather around to start their bidding, something goes terribly wrong! The space station that all the monsters are housed in gets attacked and all hell breaks loose not long after! The monsters are out now, and it's up to you, lowly Intern, to do something about it.
Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets lets the monsters run wild, now loose from their confines and roaming the halls of the space station. Luckily, there's just enough to sneak past them--a system of doors and switches that, when manipulated correctly, can be your ticket to "safety".
I put safety in very flexible terms here because it's floor after floor of this madness! Different monsters move and hunt in their own unique fashion--knowing the individual quirks of these beasts will be key in your survival.
The gameplay revolves around the puzzles to getting through each floor. Letting one door open, might close another--some are timed and require real precision to outrun and dodge the monsters lurking. It all moves at a very calculated pace as well: you can't sprint, or even run. You have to make very deliberate movements to get from point A to point B. Fortunately, there's an instant restart if you (and you will) come to your untimely demise.
The pacing overall was a bit slower than I liked at first, but eventually settled in. Once you realise these puzzles will taking a bit of thinking and what the rules are, Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets turns to be quite the little ingenious title. Mentioned before, the instant restarts really take the edge off of failing any moves and there's no limit to how many times you can fail--no game overs. It encourages you to try different combinations and strategies...and since there's plenty of side-loot to pick up, it's nice to have the option to experiment.
I was also very pleased at the narrative. For a puzzle game, it really had me hooked on the storyline, which was wonderfully animated and voice acted to perfection. I don't think there's much to be said about shortcomings, unless you're genuinely not a fan of thinking-required puzzle games. It ticks a lot of boxes for the genre, and adds a lovely few of it's own. A unique and truly fun title--I highly recommend adding this fantastic space disaster to your library today!