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21 Jul 2014 - 25 Jul 2014
Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
The darkness has come. It has spread from world to world in our solar system, even going to far as to blot out the sun. You have been chosen, a lone being in a single advanced flier, to venture into the now-dark stellar body and save us all from the darkness. No weapons can seem to hurt the dark, but there are some tools you may find that can lead to your success.
I'm really bad at puzzle games, but that doesn't seem to stop me from wanting to play them in the first place.
What first attracted me to the game was the art. There's a lot of really beautiful monochrome going on, with jagged spikes and dangers lurking in the dark, and the use of light to cast away the shadows. Artistically, it's fantastic.
The game is less about the puzzles and more about combating the darkness, where and when you can. It also requires quick reflexes and a determined nature. I'm not sure I would have been able to defeat that one boss if the game hadn't had a problem with my recording software, and slowed the whole thing down. Or it would have taken me a lot longer.
The bosses are challenging, the environments, if anything, are even more so. There's a good use of the artifacts you pick up along the way, giving it a feel not entirely unlike a Metroid game, where content is blocked until you get a certain piece of technology to clear the way.
In some cases, it almost seems like the focus is more on the art than the puzzle. There are sections where it's required that you point something to another part of the environment - but that part is off the screen, and you have to constantly move and adjust, move and adjust. It would be easier if the camera would just pan back, but it doesn't (except for boss battles). It's an odd decision that I don't entirely understand. I mean, sure, the art's pretty, but why let form override function?
The multiplayer looks like it could be fun, as the bomb ticks down (or takes damage) and you have to deliver it to a specific location in time. Naturally, that mode doesn't look viable in single-player, which is too bad; having a free-for-all mode where a player can endlessly go back and fight through the darkness seems like a good idea. There are a limited number of maps, though, so maybe "endless" is the wrong word there. It would be nice if single-player was a viable option, though.
Quite fun, even if it is head-bangingly frustrating at times. Your flier can't take a lot of damage, but you're not meant to power through the bad guys in the first place. If you like the art, and you're a fan of the metroidvania genre, it's worth playing.