Visually, Shiftlings gets the job done, though its goofy aesthetic has been done time and again. The two alien "techies" (read: janitors) are expressive and evoke The Three Stooges in their scowling jerk/grinning idiot routine, but that's really only true in the cutscenes; during gameplay, the two are pretty much the same character. Nothing in this game is evocative of what a "next-gen" game should look like; it could have been right at home on the Xbox 360, if not the original Xbox. But it is undoubtedly pleasing to the eye, from the wacky visuals, comedic details, and varied environments explored over the course of the story.
Much of the same can be said about Shiftlings's audio design. It's mostly made up of inoffensive synthesizer tracks that do their best to fit the current mood and environment. And it does an admirable job, though it won't be anything I'll be wanting to listen to when I'm not playing the game. Voice acting is decent fare that sounds like it's straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Host Zookod Neutrino is a smarmy jackass that isn't afraid to add some occasionally hostile color commentary to the proceedings.
