At a time where people are measuring game quality by the amount of hours you can sink into it, sometimes it’s nice to play something short.

In the case of The Many Pieces of Mr.Coo, it’s probably the shortest game I’ve played in recent memory. In fact, you can blaze through the whole thing within an hour. Faster than an episode of The Expanse, even.

And you know what, it’s probably going to stick in my memory more than some games I’ve played many hours of because it’s just so … unusual.

In fact, I’m going to advise you not to watch the trailer below unless you have zero intentions of playing this. It gives A LOT away and this one is best left going in cold.

I grew up partially on Disney’s Fantasia. Well, that and other things. But it was a family favourite and we watched it many, many times. I point that out here because that entire film (or series of films) was driven by its animation and music. There was maybe a line or two of dialogue in there, maybe more an exclamation but the experience was purposefully designed without words.

So is Mr Coo, though this will probably be the last time I utter it and Fantasia in the same breath together. Because for the most part, this game is kinda weird. It’s actually funny at times, its puzzles are totally off the wall and bizarre and there’s definitely some horror elements in here. I mean, we’re talking about the poor fella’s many pieces.

But this is, for the most part a point and click adventure. There’s no inventory to speak of, no dialogue trees to get through, just you and a mouse pointer interacting with certain elements in the environment. It kind of works like Dragon’s Lair in that respect.

Of course, the immediate problem playing like that on Xbox is that it feels like the mouse pointer is wading through treacle using a controller. Honestly, it’s painful. If you are going to play this, do it on PC or Switch. Avoid the rest like the plague.

Not to mention there was a couple of hard resets to the dashboard and issues with the screens getting stuck or certain animations not working as intended. But, for the most part, the game worked well.

Anyway, the point of all this is for you to play as Mr Coo, watch as he gets dissected into many pieces and then put him all back together again, all along the way solving one random puzzle after the next.

At one point, you’ll play as just Mr Coo’s head, another time his legs. In fact, the last third of the game is where it’s at its best as you seamlessly switch between body parts to solve puzzles in various ways. I got some Lost Vikings vibes from it actually and secretly wished the entire game had been like that, rather than the odd-ball events that happen before it.

Because honestly, I nearly turned this game off at first. I was laughing raucously at my screen but had absolutely no idea what I was looking at, supposed to be doing or even where I was going. Oh, and the Hint system is pretty uneventful nor helpful. It often just presents a diagram of what you’re supposed to do, in the order you’re supposed to do, but still doesn’t spell the whole thing out.

But as I said, this game is a quick and easy one, with generous, meaty achievements and a mostly enjoyable final third. It also has a great sense of humour, some of the sections actually really got me, more than I expected to.

And where to begin with the animation. Just, obviously, the absolute highlight of this package. The detail that’s gone into the finer expressions, the way Mr Coo reacts when you keep tapping him with your mouse pointer, the hilarious – and horrifying  – situations he finds himself in. Nacho Rodríguez has expertly conveyed a wide range of emotion, given you a wild ride of a story, while also depicting some truly memorable moments. Whether you want to remember them or not.

Throw in some lovely optional little moments you can look out for if you’ve a sharp eye which really enhance the experience and usually give you a little bit of a laugh.

There’s even a sort of New Game + here or at least a reason to replay once finished as you try to collect all the additional concept art pages scattered during each scene.

But the puzzles did start really veering off in odd directions and there were more than a few times that you had to repeat steps in order to accomplish your goals. As mentioned, I also found quite a few glitches and I hated controlling the pointer on my Xbox controller.

All that said, did I enjoy The Many Pieces of Mr.Coo? Sort of. Yes and no. Maybe. To be honest, that’s kind of the point. This one will be divisive, it most certainly won’t be everyone but you will remember your time with it, all the same.

I’d certainly be interested enough in seeing another installment, maybe one that plays with the concept we see at the end of the game rather than the wackiness before it. But if you’re intrigued by this one, be aware of its length, that there is definitely a distinct sense of humour that may not be for you.

And for the love of God, don’t play on Xbox or PlayStation. Unless you REALLY want those Achievements/Trophies.

Verdict

The Many Pieces of Mr Coo is a stunning accomplishment in animation. There’s no lines of spoken dialogue but the facial expressions, scripted sequences and camera angles really present this game in a memorable way. Clocking in at just under hour means this one is short and sweet, some of the puzzles are overly unorthodox and the game doesn’t really get into its stride until the final third. You should also avoid playing this on consoles, stick to PC and Switch. But what you do get here is a fascinating approach to point and click adventuring and one that might just surprise you with a few laughs. 

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Pros

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The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo is out now on PC, Switch, PS5 and Xbox

Code Kindly Provided by Astrolabe Games for review purposes

Tested on Xbox Series X