Review: Downloadable games provide cheap fun
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BY AIMEE GREEN / Lincoln Journal Star
Xbox Live Arcade has been doing well, releasing short, easy-to-play games for casual and serious gamers.
But don’t discount the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, both of which have picked up steam with some games of their own. The PS3 offers original, mostly Sony-developed games on its PlayStation Network. The Wii last month launched WiiWare, which has original downloadable games to complement the Virtual Console’s classic titles.
I’ve tried three downloadable titles:
Sony, for PlayStation 3
Rated: Everybody
Cost: $9.99 (via PlayStation Network)
Score: 4 of 5 stars
Pain
Sony, for PlayStation 3
Rated: Teen
Cost: $9.99 (via PlayStation Network)
Score: 2 1/2 of 5 stars
LostWinds
Frontier, for Wii
Rated: Everyone
Cost: 1,000 Wii points (via Wii Shop Channel)
Score: 3 1/2 of 5 stars
- Echochrome (PS3). This is an interesting puzzle game using simple line-drawing graphics. Sony likens “Echochrome” to playing an M.C. Escher drawing (Escher is an artist famous for sketches twisting perspective).
“Echochrome” is kind of hard to explain, but it’s all about perspective. The goal for each level is to guide a person through “echos” (basically goal points) by rotating the level. The level looks three-dimensional, but for the guy walking through it, it’s two-dimensional. Lines that appear to be nowhere near him will actually block his path.
An example: Paths with holes in them become complete by rotating the level so another part of the level covers the hole. If you can’t see the hole, it no longer exists. Another example is connecting two separated paths. By turning the angle at which you look at the paths, you can line them up (according to your perspective) and “connect” them for the figure to walk across.
It’s hard to explain and is best understood when seen in person. But it’s unlike any other game I’ve played, and it requires some thought on more difficult levels. In addition to the puzzle aspect, there’s the timing, as the figure keeps walking as you’re rotating. One misstep and you have to start over. The game times how long it takes you to solve each level.
“Echochrome” has 56 levels to solve, plus options to create and share your own levels.
If you like puzzle games — especially visual puzzles — definitely check out “Echochrome.” It’s so simple and yet at times astonishingly complex.
- “Pain” (PS3). In a way, “Pain” appeals to me. The overall goal is to strap a guy into a giant slingshot and shoot him at things, earning points for the number of items struck.
The physics engine in the game is pretty good. The man-weapon bounces around and flails his limbs in a lifelike manner. Calculating velocity and angle also comes into it.
There are a few single-player modes, including a sandbox in which you can do whatever you want and a monkey target practice. With friends, you can play “Pain’s” version of HORSE or bowling.
Unfortunately, “Pain” only comes with a few characters and just one level (which can be slightly customized). As much fun as it is to wreak havoc in a city using a giant slingshot, I would have liked more levels. I have a feeling more will be available later — and they’ll cost. Which kind of kills buying it in the first place.
The core gameplay of “Pain” might make me giggle, but the features are so shallow that it’s really not worth a buy.
- LostWinds (Wii). I’ve been a bit wary of any Wii games coming from a company other than Nintendo (or, I suppose, Capcom) because of bad Wii controls.
“LostWinds,” however, uses the controls well and imaginatively. You play as two “characters”: a young boy named Toku, who has to rid the world of a curse placed upon it, and a wind spirit called Enril.
With Toku, you can run around the side-scrolling world, but most of the work is done by Enril. The best way to describe Enril is as a cursor on the screen around which wind blows. Wherever you point the cursor, plants sway in the breeze. With the press of a button and a swing of the remote, the breeze becomes a gust, flaring fires, causing people to gasp and — this is key — lifting Toku.
Toku himself can’t jump, but he can use the wind to lift him to places he can’t reach. The wind also helps solve other puzzle elements, such as using currents to spread fire to a blockade or to direct water onto a plant that will help Toku. The wind also is used to defeat the various enemies Toku comes across.
Playing as the wind is an original and entertaining idea, and “LostWinds” implements it well. If it has a shortcoming, however, it’s that the game is too short. That’s not really the developers’ fault, though, as WiiWare titles have a limit on file size.
At about $10, it’s a nice choice for something different for Wii owners. I hope other WiiWare titles hold up to “LostWinds.”
Reach Aimee Green at 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.
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