I am deathly afraid of the sea. And deep lakes. Sometimes swimming pools. Basically anywhere I think there could potentially be a shark. I’m afraid of sharks. So why would I, self-proclaimed sharkphobe, play so many games about the sea? Because I’m utterly obsessed with all the weird, wonderful and terrifying creatures that lurk under the waves.
Dave the Diver is the perfect game for someone like me. Low stakes, swimming around collecting all these fascinating sea creatures, then turning them into delicious food. A perfect combo! Yeah sure there’s plenty of sharks to jump scare you, but you can run, hide and eventually fend them off so they can be transformed into sashimi too! But what if you didn’t need to worry about sharks at all? There’s no sharks in the jungle right? Right?!?
Freshwater Swimming
Dave the Diver In the Jungle DLC is the newest and most expansive expansion for Dave and friends, from the team over at Mintrocket. After a dead dinosaur (!) washes up on the shores of a lake near the remote village of Utara in the heart of the jungle, Dr. Bacon recruits Dave and the gang to investigate.
When you arrived (after a signature, phenomenal, Dave the Diver cut scene) you’ll discover that there’s some weird happenings in and around the lake. Dr. Bacon, new researcher Muna and the village chief Panutah need Dave to strap on his diving gear and figure out why there’s so much hydrogen peroxide in the lake. More importantly (dead dinosaurs aside), Bancho doesn’t like the food so we’re setting up a new grill restaurant to show the villagers what good eating is all about.
Fanning the Flames
The primary gameplay loop of the In the Jungle DLC will be pretty familiar if you’ve played the base game of Dave the Diver (for this review, I played on a completed save – which I would recommend so you have plenty of suit and oxygen upgrades). Time works slightly differently from the base game, where your only primary activity is diving for fish, upgrades or to progress the various storylines. In Utara, time flows as you walk explore, getting to know the locals and picking land based ingredients for the restaurant. Each member of the village has distinct likes and dislikes, and you can gift them items to improve your relationship with them – this unlocks new side quests, mini games and can even get them to come and try out the restaurant.
The diving mechanics stay very close to the base game too, with equipment crates, resources and delicious fish to collect – however a big change to Dave’s underwater arsenal comes in the form of the Jungle Gun. The gun itself has 4 modes (Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper and Net) that you can cycle through to handle the wildlife in the lake of Utara. Towards the start of the DLC I didn’t really use the Jungle Gun much (I’m a dab hand at the harpoon), but as I started to upgrade it – importantly increasing the ammo each mode has – the more saw how the DLC was designed around this new piece of kit. From the beginning villagers will ask for live animals as part of there quests, so you’ll need to break out the Net Gun; there’s also some big mean creatures right at the surface of the lake, which you’re going to need some serious firepower to take on (top tip; the Black Caiman has a weak spot right at the base of it’s head on it’s squidgy underbelly. Sniper away).
The restaurant also sees similar mechanics returning with some fun added extras. You’ll be the only waiter at first, so get ready for some fun QTEs to prepare the perfect coconut before rushing dishes out to the hungry villagers. What is new is the grill. While Bancho does his magic on the mail course, certain customers will want a little something extra with their meal. Over to Dave, king of the BBQ, to grill up some tasty skewers as side dishes. It’s a small change to the gameplay, but a welcome one. If you’re used to only having to grate some wasabi while your servers handle everything else in the main game, getting stuck back into as a server, with even more to manage, is a good time.
Jungle Explorer
Outside of these tweaks to the base games mechanics there’s a whole host of fun new things to do in your Jungle vacation. I spoke briefly about the friendship mechanics above, but that’s not the only thing to do above water. As you progress through the game you’ll also be exploring the wilderness with your team, and as threats don’t just exist where it’s wet, you’ll need to fight them off with the new turn based combat system. This includes all new weapons and skills compared to Dave’s underwater kit, with timing based attacks and guarding ala Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, and special skills that need AP to carry out. I’m not going to lie, a full new RPG mode was not was I was expecting in the DLC, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s not the most in-depth system in the world, but it doesn’t need to be – it’s a fun addition amongst others to keep the DLC feeling fresh.
I’m not going to go into the story of the DLC – I will say it’s a delightfully wacky romp, and if you’re a big fan of Dave the Diver you are absolutely not going to be disappointed. There’s cameo’s from all manner of titles too; with Martin Tweed from Journey to the Savage Planet showing up rather explosively amongst others that’ll definitely put a smile on you face. You can do quests for these outsiders, much like the village residents, but it’ll more than likely end up with them working at Bancho’s Grill instead of visiting as a customer.
Final Thoughts
Mintrocket have advertised the In the Jungle DLC as the largest and most ambitious DLC for Dave the Diver yet; a huge celebration of the title’s third birthday. It’s safe to say that the team have absolutely delivered on a spectacular birthday blow out for Dave and the gang, with tonnes of new content, a fun mystery to solve and a host of delicious new dishes to salivate over.
The only minor criticism I have is that there’s maybe a few too many new things to juggle down in the jungle. On top of everything else mentioned, there’s furniture crafting, a shooting range mini game, a Tetris/Jenga lovechild and… fishing. You read right. There’s now fishing in the game about catching fish. Not to say that any of these things are bad in themselves – I had a lot of fun with the majority of them – but just like eating too much cake at a birthday party, you might have a little bit of a crash afterwards.
Oh, and there is a shark. Bull sharks live in freshwater too.
Dave the Diver In The Jungle was played on PC. Gamer Social Club would like to thank the Devs and publisher for the code.
