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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Off the Wall (VVVVVV Review)

Now that I've reviewed Crysis I thought that I would try the other end of the gaming spectrum: platformers. It's been a few months since I've beaten six-v, but it is quite a memorable game. I enjoyed it just as much throughout the whole thing, there were no boring parts whatsoever. The story begins with Captain Viridian with his shipmates, and you run into a problem with the ship which transports you and your crew all over the ship and sometimes in a different dimension. the goal is to find the rest of your crew through the sometimes ridiculous obstacles and get the hell out of there.  This game maybe look like your traditional platformer, but there is a catch-no jumping. Instead of hopping over barriers, you must hit the spacebar to change gravity from up to down as often as you like. Now reevaluate that picture-it seems much harder doesn't it? This can also work to your advantage, as you can sometimes just walk by certain enemies by walking on the ceiling. The game gets progressively harder, but it is honestly the PERFECT difficulty for anyone. It is easy enough where you won't become bored and give up at difficult points, but hard enough where it presents some challenge for even the most experienced gamer. You can also adjust the difficulty in a way, because most of the challenge comes from collecting artifacts which unlock new songs and modes, but you can skip them if they prove to be too tough and come back to them when you get better. Even if you think they are too hard to get you aren't missing out on much, just the ability to listen to the songs on demand and if you collect them all you get a secret area with a few goodies, but the reward is enough where if you enjoy the game you will attempt to get them all. One of the greatest features is how the world is set up. You can check your map and see what "square" you are in and what squares you have been in before so you never get lost and know where you need to go next. The indirect path of completion makes it feel much more like a sandbox game or like one of the Legend of Zelda games because you can go wherever you please, and if you aren't sure where to go next just head for an undiscovered square in your map. Not to mention that the music in this game is phenomenal chip-tune music. I've never really been a fan of the genre but I absolutely love it.  As for replay value there isn't much once you get all of the artifacts, but it is a surprisingly memorable experience for such a simple looking game. I don't think I've played anything quite like it. It may be a short game (about 7 hours) but it's definitely worth the five bucks on Steam. Let's sum this all up.


The Good:
+ Innovative gameplay elements
+ Well needed "Pixel" genre game
+ Great fitting music for the Atmosphere
+ Simple yet attention-grabbing story

The Bad:
-The game is pretty much perfect,  but I'd pay for either a sequel or if the story was lengthier
-Could use more minigame unlocks

Final Thoughts: Great game, Great price. Would absolutely recommend purchasing this. 9/10

20 comments:

  1. Very good review. I love VVVVVV. After reading this review i am inspired to play again

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  2. Nice review, I might have to go try out the game now. Thanks!

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  3. Nice review, real cool old game!

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  4. Wow, only 5 bucks? I'm going to me mad if my grades drop because of this review (I get addicted to good games easily). Thanks for the post though!

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  5. @Rimo Yeah you'll just have to beat it on a free weekend I suppose!

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  6. Neat, will have to check this out.

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  7. Sweet! With such a great review I MIGHT have to get this!

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  8. @Kyle hey man I really like your blog on game consoles :D

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  9. I haven't heard anything about this game surprisingly, but I love platformers so I may look into it!

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  10. I actually hated this game at first then got addicted to it.

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  11. sounds awesome!

    i had no idea you were following, haha sorry for the delay!

    +follow

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  12. I agree; it is bad when something is pretty much perfect.

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  13. I saw another review before, really want to check this out

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  14. @sheep: no prob haha its about the content anyways :)

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  15. Wow! Old school, like back when I used to play.

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  16. Looks cool! Thanks ill try it!

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