Crush 3D Review

Crush 3D Review

There have been times in videogaming history where things just fit. Mario 64 ushered in 3D movement and exploration so perfectly that you would be forgiven for thinking that the N64 was made for that game only. Soul Calibur brought arcade perfection to Dreamcast owners the world over. Wii Sports perfectly captured the fun, excitement and boundless opportunities the Wii presented us with.

Danny

The release of Crush 3D, a game about exploiting the change from 2D to 3D, released on the Nintendo 3DS, a system who’s sole purpose is glasses-free 3D, should have been one of those times. Sadly, it doesn’t quite achieve that.

Crush 3D is a standard action puzzle game. You control Danny, basically Marty McFly minus the self-tying shoes, as he tests out the creation of his mad scientist pal, basically Doc without the jokes, charisma or indeed anything memorable at all. The machine takes Danny inside his own head, where for some reason you have to guide him through a bunch of levels of varying difficulty using the central gimmick of shifting dimensions. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that doesn’t matter as long as the puzzles are good, right?

3D Level

And, mostly, the puzzles are all right. The aim of the game here is changing the camera angle while you move around and ‘crushing’ the stage into 2D to bring unreachable platforms close together. Uncrush the level in the right place and you might end up miles away from where you thought you were. It’s a neat trick, and like the best puzzle games, it means you have to quickly get to grips the architecture of the level you’re in, and be aware of the implications of where you perform a crush.

Surfaces that are easily traversed in 3D will block your progress in 2D, while some can be fallen through the the depths below, and a swift journey to the most recent checkpoint. Once you get through the initial glut of tutorial stages, it becomes quite challenging.

Sadly, it never feels any more than pedestrian. The greatest puzzle game of recent times, Portal, was great because of it’s sense of progression and it’s way of rewarding you just for playing about. Crush 3D can sometimes feel like a box ticking exercise in comparison: Its meaty collection of stages can drag, and finding the urge to revisit them to find secret unlockables (ooo a new dressing gown) is difficult.

2D Level

See? Bet you didn't realise this is the same level as the one above...

Fairly early on in the game, enemies are introduced, but all they do is get in the way. Killing them is either an inconvenience or, even worse, an accident.

The 3D effect is weak too. For a game all about dimensions and spacial awareness, it’s annoying that the only times the 3D is really noticeable is during the flat 2D cutscenes. It’s not immersive at all, nor is it much of a spectacle; the sudden change from 3D to 2D when you crush a level is a massive missed opportunity to blow some socks off.

Crush 3D is a bit of a disappointment then. For puzzle fans, it will just about satisfy those willing to trudge through the less inspired levels. The central gimmick is just good enough to hold attention until the end. Whether it tempts you back to perfect every level and unlock all those lovely dressing gowns depends on how much of a completist you are. Here’s another Portal comparison: Upon completing Portal, despite not having anything left to unlock, very few of us could wait to start the journey all over again. Upon completing Crush 3D, there will be trophies, dressing gowns and other things left to collect, but very few of us will be bothered to do it all over again.

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

Scottish Game Jam 2012 – Initial Thoughts

Scottish Game Jam 2012 – Initial Thoughts


Another year and another Scottish Game Jam (part of the largest game jam in the world the Global Game Jam). As always the Glasgow Caledonian University is the site of the jam but with the gathering word the location is stacked with even more faces. Old, new, professional or amateur the game jam represents a fundamental chance to learn, develop and get involved.

For those who haven’t been here before the Global Game Jam’s remit is to produce a game within 48 hours. Teams can be friends or complete strangers; some who have travelled across the country, and sometimes the globe, merely to get involved.

This year is no exception and it is a real joy to be involved in the whole event, this year judging but also mentoring the teams and eating their pizza.

The jammers are given a concept (something we can’t talk about in this entry) and there are also a number of diversifiers – identified earlier on the Global Game Jam site – which can be added to the game. These diversifiers are truly added challenges for those involved and tend to be tempting for the more experienced teams. So games with no graphics, collaborative games where one player needs to be hardcore and the other casual as well as games where each player has a different goal and rules are some. The rest can be found here.

As with anything set to such a tight time limit planning is essential. As well as gathering the team the jammers have to consider the concepts they want to follow, reject what they don’t like and move on quickly with the development cycle. The process is meant to emulate the pressure building to a game launch and does it well, the difficulties coming to the fore and strong teamwork being a fundamental element of a successful development.

It’s also essential not to bite off more than you can chew. Last years topic of extinction brought some strong ideas but had equally similar concepts from many teams, dinosaurs and dodos featuring prominently. The concept is meant to create this possibility and thinking outside the box is another unique element the teams have to handle.

Sleep is another important factor. For almost all there is a point where salient thought breaks down and the input/output of the brains own neurons simple fails. It is often beyond this point that a team will go, finding they have issues in the final stretch, when tethers are likely to be worn thin.

Not hard then!

To help there are a number of mentors and judges. They deal with the teams queries, talk to them, calm their nerves and often assist, although not directly offering a solution but hinting at where things go wrong. At Scottish Game Jam these are Alastair Hebson from Guerrilla Games, Liam Wong from Crytek, Dave Thompson from Ludometrics, Tom Welsh from Calm Down Tom, Colin MacDonald from Channel 4 and myself, representing Digital Adaptations and SquareGo.

So with hosts Romana Khan and Jon Sykes, who yet again are the force behind the Scottish GameJam. It’s off we go!

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

The problem with touch controls

The problem with touch controls

Recently I started playing the iOS version of Chrono Trigger, the classic Super Nintendo role playing game. The port is well done, for the most part, the visuals are perhaps a little muddy but not to the extent they detract from the experience. I’m usually wary of iOS ports of games originally played with a controller but being a turn based RPG I expected the translation to touch controls to be a fairly easy one.

For those unfamilliar with the game, depending on how much exploration you do, the first half an hour or so of Chrono Trigger is fairly low on combat. As such this section of the game required use of the bane of many an iOS game, the virtual analog stick. Personally any kind of virtual replacement for physical buttons almost instantly puts me off, but in this case I was ok with it because I knew the majority of the important gameplay would not require it.

Continue reading “The problem with touch controls” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

Binary Domain – Hands On

Binary Domain – Hands On

There’s a popular idea floating about the internet that concerns the Japanese games industry: that it’s heading for the scrapheap. There’s folk on forums and discussion boards typing about how Japanese developers can’t compete with their Western counterparts, and that they’re falling behind. These accusations are based partly upon the fact that in the beginning, Japan ruled the video game roost, with all the Western studios flailing their arms about in a panic, trying to capture some of that magic.

Leaping forward to now, it’s easy to see why people could fall into the trap of believing that Japanese developers are trying to replicate the success of non-traditional genres, like third and first person shooters. Some of these have been failures, like Quantum Theory, while others have been fantastic and fantastically ignored like Vanquish.

Continue reading “Binary Domain – Hands On” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

Find Apps for Kids with the boingboing podcast

Over at boingboing they’re running a series all about videogaming for kids. The latest podcast features a review of Numbers Leage,  a maths puzzle game or some such.

It’s a nice wee podcast where Mark reviews games with his daughter. It can get a bit confusing but it’s a good starting point if you’re looking for something for a sprog to play.

via boingboing

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

AMY

AMY

AMY has been piquing the interest of gamers for some time now. It’s a downloadable title with thrills and frights similar to the original survival horror games; sadly the only scare is the hype monster that got the better of it.

Do you remember those really annoying bits in survival horror games where you had to escort a child? Well, imagine that for around four hours and you will get the jist of what is on offer here. It’s not just the horror genre that AMY pays homage to, there are loads of moments where you go, “oh yeah, it’s just like whatsitsface, but really crap”. Despite lots of ideas like stealth and hiding in lockers similar to Metal Gear Solid or holding Amy’s hand – something that initially takes you back to the magical moments from ICO - these are quickly forgotten with Amy being unresponsive, constantly wandering off or just letting go; shame as it all started so well. Continue reading “AMY” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

Lylian Episode 1: Paranoid Friendship

Lylian Episode 1: Paranoid Friendship

Little girls in mental asylums are hardly an untouched area for the gaming industry. This is the subject tackled by Lylian Episode 1: Paranoid Friendship, a 2D sidescroller by indie developer PixelPickle Games. Despite more than a passing resemblance to a certain set of games by American McGee, Lylian does enough things differently to distinguish itself and provides an engaging story about a girl who has more than simply an overactive imagination. Unfortunately, although Lylian certainly has a strong narrative and a fascinating setting, it is let down by its terrible and repetitive mechanics.

Continue reading “Lylian Episode 1: Paranoid Friendship” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

World of Simulations

World of Simulations

Even in these struggling times £4.99 can still go a long way to buy one monetary happiness. A battered haggis supper as a questionable dinner, a six pack of cheap beer to help an evening go by and just possibly, a concession priced cinema ticket!

World of Simulations is asking for just five of your hard earn pounds in order for you to enjoy their 50 page magazine where the tag line reads, “All about Simulations.” With it’s cover features of getting the low-down on Farming Simulator 2011 and Train Simulator 2011 who could possibly refuse such an offer? Continue reading “World of Simulations” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share

Trine 2

Trine 2

Frozenbyte are perhaps most well known for their involvement in the humble bundle offerings (collections of games, created by low budget/staff development teams, with no restrictions on the number of times they can be used) and it’s a sequel to Trine (previously included in the second pay-what-you-want compilation) that’s under scrutiny today.

The plot of Trine 2 picks up some time after the events of the first game and sees our three protagonists: Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight and Zoya the thief once again having their souls bound to each other in order to stop a great evil comprised of fantasy genre stalwarts.

Continue reading “Trine 2” »

Post to Twitter

Bookmark and Share