Under The Hood – Preview

Hello! Today I have something a little different to share. I have been given a special hands-on preview for the upcoming title Under the Hood, from our friends at Shady Corner Games that I previously shared news of. This will be my thoughts on the game and discussing some of the details for this release, including some details of the gameplay and my experience with the game.

Mature Content Warning: the title being discussed is intended for adults only, with an 18+ rating due to the inclusion of strong language, sexual content, including explicit sexual actions and situations, as well as graphic language describing sex acts. If you are made uncomfortable by the listed content or if you are under the age of 18, this title is not going to be for you, proceed at your own discretion.

So without further ado, it is time to discuss my experience with Under the Hood, the latest title from Shady Corner, coming in the near future to Steam.

Plot – Under the Hood tells the story of a new assistant starting a job at Trish’s Pit’s, a local garage run by Trish and her daughters Silvie and Frankie. As the new hire, the assistant will be tasked with breaking down engines using their trusty wrench and toolbox, all while trying to keep themselves focused on the job at hand. As time passes, situations will arise that will blur the lines of professionalism between the different characters.

Gameplay – this game is a brick breaker style puzzle title, where the objective is to clear each shift by using a wrench to break down the engines that are on screen. To rebound the wrenches, there is a toolbox that can be moved left and right, with the wrenches bouncing off when making contact with it. But be careful as the wrench doesn’t act like a traditional ball, the way that the do in titles like Arkanoid and Breakout.

The systems that this variant of the genre uses are unique and make it a very challenging experience. Traditionally, there would be power-ups that would be dropped from destroying blocks, or enemies would appear as an obstacle, but this title is very different. Instead of power-ups and enemies, this game uses a system of hazards and obstacles, affecting the way that the wrench and even the toolbox will function.

These stage elements include heat pads, which will heat the wrench up and slow the toolbox down when contact is made. Then we have oil slicks which will slow the wrench down and lubricating coolant that speeds it up, making it more challenging to bounce the wrench back. This can be even tougher when the second toolbox is introduced, which will be faster than the standard one and hover above it.

The game itself is broken up into an introductory prologue scene and three chapters, each focusing on a different member of the Trish’s Pit’s team. The chapters are made up of multiple stages, called days with each day having multiple shifts to them. All of the shifts will need to be cleared in order to progress, needing to restart at the first shift if all lives are lost, but that isn’t the only progression system that this title uses.  

Within the stages, there are nuts and bolts that can appear, with the objective being to hit them with a wrench multiple times to add them to the tally at the top of the field. These nuts are used to unlock content in the gallery to view later, but be careful as all shifts must be completed to add the nuts to the bank. If the stage is failed all those nuts will be lost and you will need to start again, which adds a risk/reward feel to the stages.

As this is a title in the Shady Corner universe, there will be plenty of risqué and explicit content that will occur throughout the experience. This happens in Visual Novel/Dating sim style interactions, with a steamy story for each of the girls that will play out. But this isn’t the core focus of the game, as the gameplay is more than capable of standing on its own, with a lot of replay value to unlock the galleries and even special bonus stages for players.

Now let’s talk about the rest of this release and discuss the feel of the game.

Game Feel – this title has a familiar feel to it with the way that the brick break mechanics feel, but that familiarity only extends at the very base level. There is a lot of depth to the title, with a brutal difficulty curve that will really push the player to earn their smut. It does feel like a traditional brick breaker, but those instincts will lead to disaster as the wrench has a unique hit box, making it feel distinct from the others in the genre.

There is a lot of content on offer with some gorgeous character portraits that appear in the stages and VN scenes, along with special arts for the intimacy scenes. These artworks are in different styles from artists that have worked with Shady Corner in the past, which makes each of the different routes feel unique. The music featured fits each of the characters scenes, with tracks that complement the different characters.

The controls for this game work really well, with both keyboard and controller support. My personal preference is to use an Xbox controller, but it works really well with a keyboard. But be aware that since this title has yet to release, there is a lack of controller inputs on screen. However, the controls are fully implemented for supported steam controllers, so this will be addressed upon release of the game.

Final Thoughts – being able to get hands on with this game has been a real treat, as it is one of those genres that rarely gets innovations or new systems added to it. The way that the physics and overall gameplay systems work are very solid and well planned, but they will take a little getting used to and can get really tough in the later stages. However, there is an easy difficulty setting that will increase the starting lives and make it more manageable.

I really enjoyed my time with this game, as there is a lot of content on offer for players to get their teeth into, as well as the replay value on offer with the gallery unlocks. From the outside, this may look like another smut title, but there is a lot of depth to it with the challenging gameplay mechanics. There is more to this than just the tits, which is a hallmark of the Shady Corner brand as they always make compelling games that just so happen to have smut in it.

If you want to check this title out for yourself, you can find the demo for the game (HERE) and you can also wish list Under the Hood, so you can be notified when the game releases. You can also find their official twitter account (HERE) to keep up to date with their new releases and upcoming titles.