Review by: Brian Pipa
Published: October 15, 1997

his is the first game that I have reviewed that I had never heard of until I received the package in the mail. I had no clue as to what to expect, so I was able to pop the CD in and evaluate it with no pre-conceived expectations. First off, UFOs does not stand for Unidentified Flying Objects as you might think. Nope, it stands for Unassuming F***ed-up Objects. This was my first clue that I was in for something…different.

Gnap is the star of this game. He’s a purple alien with one big eye that reminds me a great deal of Stimpy of Ren and Stimpy fame. In fact, the whole game — the humor, animation, and sound FX — reminds me of an interactive Ren and Stimpy cartoon, and that is high praise since I enjoy Ren and Stimpy immensely. Gnap crash-lands smack-dab in the middle of the Ozark mountains and in the crash manages to break three pieces of his engine (well, actually a pig breaks the engine, but you’ll see when you play). It’s your job to help Gnap find replacements for these three parts and get the heck off of Earth and away from the butt-ugly Ozarkians.

Gnap is helped along the way by a blue-billed platypus with a crew-cut named Mr. P. He sticks with you like a fly on cow manure after you rescue him from a vicious bear-trap. Gap is exploring Earth in the 1970s at the height of the disco craze. Poor Gap can only speak in his native tongue, which is quite amusing to watch. He must communicate with the locals via body gestures and signs. While exploring the wacky city, he visits a crazed biker bar, a disco, a demented circus, a science lab, and a jamboree.

I love the humor in this game. Just for reference, I like Ren and Stimpy, The Simpsons, The Critic, Dr. Katz and occasionally Beavis and Butthead (in small doses). I don’t like King of the Hill, The Tick, and Southpark. I laughed out loud many times while playing UFOs. Here are a few examples of the humor. The chickens on the farm smoke cigarettes. When you try to put a pig into your hand-held computer it expands and blows up disgustingly. Squirrels will jump out and beat you up for apparently no reason. The farm folk are ugly and say some wacky things like “Them there are people thangs!”

There are also four arcade-type mini games in UFOs with names like “Tongue Wrestling,” “Road Kill,” and “Panhandling” that will keep you entertained when you’re not fending off the brain-dead and psychotic wackos you’ll encounter. There is nothing even remotely educational about this game, despite its publishers roots in educational titles. It’s pure, unadulterated fun just for the sake of fun.

UFOs is a surprisingly good game given that it comes from a publisher and developer that are not big names in the PC gaming scene. If you’re looking for an entertaining cartoon adventure with plenty of humor, see if you can track down a copy of UFOs. If your sense of humor is similar to mine, I guarantee it will put a smile on your face.