Review: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (XBLA)

These days, if you're going to put out a Metroid or Castlevania style platformer, there has to be something unique about it.  Games like those are often imitated, yet rarely surpassed.  Fuelcell games, along with artist Michel Gagne (The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, Clone Wars) hope that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) has that something special.  Since it is part of Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade, it's gotten plenty of exposure, but will that win acclaim or just drive sales?

The story for ITSP is made up of short animated pieces without any narration whatsoever.  Collecting artifacts throughout the game will unlock more animations, but they're only a few seconds long.  Basically, you leave your own planet in a spaceship that looks like the archetypal UFO and head to the Shadow Planet.  There are six different areas of the Shadow Planet: 

• Homeworld
• Organic
• Ocean
• Ice
• Mechanical
• Electrical

Each is identified by a different background color, and have different enemies that need to be disposed of, although some of the enemies exhibit similar features but with slight differences from previous areas.  All of the areas are connected via regular tunnels, or special warp tunnels, so backtracking may be tedious but not difficult.

Your spaceship does have it's array of tools at it's disposal, which are used for combat and puzzle solving.  There are a total of nine apps, if you will, for the ship, and they are introduced in increments:

• laser gun (for shooting)
• claw (for grabbing/picking up)
• scanner (tells which tool you need)
• shield
• drill (for digging through certain areas)
• missiles (can be guided to hit targets/areas)
• light laser (to heat substances, conduct electricity, or even fry enemies)
• tractor beam 
• electricity

Four of the tools can be programmed to one of the controller buttons for quicker access, or the right bumper will bring up a wheel where any can be selected.  The map is obviously available with a touch of a button, and will be accessed frequently, as areas already explored will be visible, and areas not yet seen will be blocked out.  Once you've got that under your belt, it's time to head off.

Gameplay

While combat plays a part, puzzle solving is the more prominent feature of ITSP.  It is quite possible to traverse the whole area and reach the boss with only a minimum of shooting, which is a far cry from most in this genre.  There is no point system in place, as exploration is rewarded instead.  The spaceship effortlessly floats through the caverns and passageways at your control, and is able to use it's acquired equipment in a 360 degree arc.  Shooting kind of reminds me of the classic arcade game Asteroids.  When damage does occur, the spaceship shows it through a deteriorating appearance, instead of a health bar.  When you see your ship literally falling apart in front of you, it's tame to take evasive action.  Luckily, save points are amply provided with the added benefit of complete health regeneration.

In ITSP, the map is one of your closest friends as the areas to be navigated are quite large, and in places, intricate.  Scanning certain areas that are not yet available because you don't have the correct tool, can be marked for a return trip later.  Unfortunately, when something is marked, there is no way to remove that mark later on, after you've revisited.  This leads to quite a bit of doubling back and trying to remember if you've already visited that area.  This can be combatted if you immediately go to those areas after you receive the proper tool.  Getting the player to achieve 100 percent of the map explored seems to be more of a goal of the developers than racing through, battling boss after boss, and finishing quickly.

What really struck me and endeared the game to me, was it's old school feel.  I'm not talking about the Metroid similarities (the first one, not Super Metroid).  Since there is no narrative (even how to use the controls is just shown in pictures), sometimes it becomes confusing on what needs to be done to progress.  However, when the correct solution hits on which tool to use, and how, it's like a revelation followed by admiration for the game.  Of course that was needed to be done, why didn't I think of that sooner?  Many games today force-feed the player on where to go and what to do.  The games of the NES era were vague and there was no Gamefaqs.com to immediately check for walkthroughs.

The boss battles are not all that difficult, as the Final Boss seems to be appropriately the most difficult.  It's a real pain in today's games when the difficulty gets revved up several notches just because it's a boss battle.  ITSP does not have that problem, which lends to it's charm.  Boss battles in ITSP are an extension of the area you just traversed, not some super pumped baddie with hyper-effective weaponry.

There is a multiplayer mode, called Lantern Run, which is a more intense experience than the single player mission.  In Lantern Run, you and up to three others, each have to drag your own lanterns through various obstacles, keeping in mind that a huge monster is chasing you.  Given the fact that your primitive ship can only utilize one feature at a time, sometimes the lantern must be dropped in order to drill through, or shoot enemies.  Luckily you've got teammates that can help you out should you need it, but it is a great test of one's mastery of many of the tools acquired.

Graphics

Even if the art style hadn't been created by an acclaimed artist, it is still something to marvel at.  Excellent use of colors in the specific zones really make you feel that you are in different places.  The worlds were colorful and modern, yet not overly done.  The Ice world is bright and white, while in the Ocean area, the deeper you go, the darker it gets.  Although it is technically a 2-D shooter, there is so much movement and activity in different layers of the background that it feels 3-D.  Enemies, although not a huge variety, are impressive.  Some are slow and methodical, while others fly at you quickly or home in on you wherever you move.  

I also liked that there were varying degrees of force.  When your claw picked up a large rock, the ship moved slower and you could almost feel the extra force being applied from when smaller pieces were moved.  Drilling through rock had just the right amount of tension to seem more realistic.  Bullets shot in water went less far than those shot in the atmosphere.  These little touches really helped set the stage.

Sound

The soundtrack varies from strong orchestral melodies, provided by Dimmu Borgir (a Norwegian Heavy Metaler), to more modern beeps and boops that are typically in space games.  Never overpowering the setting, the simple tones help set the stage for being the lone being in a hostile, unknown planet.

Replay Value

There is quite a bit of grumbling about the game's length.  I personally, did not find it too short, as I was all about 100 percent exploration.  Unfortunately, once that is achieved, and the final boss beaten, the only thing really left to do is Lantern Run.  This title begs for DLC, opening up newer areas, and I hope that to be the case in the future.

Score: 9.25

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is my favorite Summer of Arcade title.  While there will be comparisons drawn between ITSP and Outland, the former is far superior.  It's not always about length, but consequently the experience a gamer has.  The pacing is wonderful, even if the last few levels seem a bit shorter, and I never felt like any area lasted too long.  With an amazing art design as an added bonus, life is good on this planet.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is part of Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade promotion, and is currently available for 1200 MSP ($15).

Review: From Dust (XBLA/PSN)

Ubisoft has been on a hot streak of downloadable titles dating back from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, all the way up to current titles like Outland, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, and the HD reiteration of last generation's Beyond Good & Evil.  Now, they've set the XBLA record for highest one day sales with their current release, From Dust.

Once I heard it was a 'playing god' game, I immediately thought of the 2001 PC game, Black & White, but apparently its closer to Populous (1989), which I've never played.  I tried to spend a lot of time with Black & White, but for some reason, my brain does not work well with real-time strategy games.  I enjoyed it, but was not that successful with it (or any other RTS since).  From Dust seemed like a fresh start for me and my RTS phobia.  I mean, how complicated could an it's an Xbox Live Arcade title be?  

From Dust begins with you the player controlling The Breath, which is kind of a mini-smoke monster, from the television show, LOST.  While you do have the powers of destruction, you are mostly in the business of production.  That is, producing avenues of travel through various topographical features.  As The Breath, you can gather water, sand (earth), and lava and drop them anywhere that you desire.  The challenge of the game comes in the fact that you must make areas habitable and accessible for the tribe people through the constantly changing environments.

The mask-donning tribesmen (and women), need to get from one area (world) to the next through portals.  They accomplish this by settling villages, not just anywhere, but around huge meerkat-resembling totems.  This is where The Breath comes in.  Piling up sand creates landforms (which can be washed away through erosion or grow vegetation, which in turn brings animals), cooling lava creates rock (which the sand can be piled upon, but also eroded more slowly) and water can be siphoned out of areas to accomplish tasks.

The areas around the totems are not always accessible and are usually quite susceptible to natural disasters.  So, passageways need to be created, but at the same time important areas (villages, totems) need to be protected.  When 5 of the tribespeople safely reach a totem, (which is sometimes a lesson in head scratching at the route they try to take) a village is created, unlocking a special aptitude that can be used.  However, once it's created does not mean that it's perpetually safe.  Herein, lies the essence of the game: battling the forces of nature along with the strange decision of your lemming-like tribespeople.

Gameplay

When you first begin to pick up earth or water, into those magnificent spheres, I'll admit, you do feel somewhat powerful.  The introductory levels are quick and relatively simple, just to get you going.  Before you know it, giant sea swells and active volcanoes are introduced.  The disasters run on a timer, so there isn't much time to marvel at the setting.  You can see the seconds ticking down until the next disaster, but are pretty much helpless.  They're going to happen, you just need to be prepared for the fallout.  

In one instance, I had spent over 30 minutes on a level, finally coming to the realization that I was going about it all wrong.  There was a very slim chance that I was going to be able to complete the level, even if I, in a sense, started over doing what needed to be done in the first place.  I spent another 40 minutes doing what I thought best, but felt like I was playing catch-up the whole time and not making any progress in between disasters.  Spending that amount of time on a task and having it come up short was ultimately frustrating.  You really need to make quick decisions and prioritize what needs to get done before the next disaster.  Plus, the camera isn't the best with zooming too close at times, leaving some of the tribe burned because you tried to make a rock wall protecting a village or accidentally drowned as you mistakenly sprayed water on them.

When members of the tribe begin moving towards their newest destination, the game shows you the ways they will take, either a white pathway (good) or a red pathway (bad).  I'm not sure how educated these tribespeople are, but on more than a couple of occasions, I had built, what I thought of, as a perfectly good land mass to carry them to an island, but many forsake and went another way, basically drowning themselves in the water.  There's a way you can zoom in to the villagers and get an extremely sparse bio about them (one sentence), but there is no way to select which villagers you want to make the trek to the next totem.  That, coupled with the sometimes bizarre AI of the tribe, leads to annoyance more often than not.  Why can't they see that huge wave coming directly at them?  Why are they just standing in the path of that lava flow?  I kind of wished that the men and women actually did something, like had different roles or talents.  Otherwise is got repetitive just sucking the elements from one area and depositing them in another.

Ultimately, at the end of the game, it becomes the experience I was kind of hoping for, as you finally get the chance to play sandbox-style.  Sadly, by then I had experienced all I had wanted out of From Dust.  If you do end up liking the gameplay, there are challenges that can be unlocked which involve much more of a specific task, and prolong the game.

Graphics

cutscenes are well done and look gorgeous but really didn't enthrall me with an entrancing story.

Sound

Hearing the tidal wave approaching followed by the yelling tribesmen as it hit, also got to me the first few times, but my ineptitude with the game lent that to happening quite a bit.  The background music is fitting with the theme, kind of tribal beatish vibe.

Replay Value

Between the story and all of the challenges, I'd say you get your money's worth (or MSP worth) in terms of length.  I have to wonder how many purchasers will actually see the story to completion and turn to many of the challenges.  There are rumors that there are plans for expansion like a map editor and multiplayer.  Even though my experience wasn't the best with From Dust, I'd be willing to give it another look if that actually does happen.

Score

7.0

From Dust does not really give you enough power to be or feel god-like.  From someone who is terrible at and usually shies away from this type of game, I gave it my all.  I never felt connected with or appreciated by the tribe people who I was doing all this work for.  Maybe that really is how a Supreme Being feels, after all.

From Dust is the 2nd offering in Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade.  It is available for 1200 MSP ($15).  Coming soon for PC (August 17) and sometime in the fall for PSN.