Home>>Gravity Crash PS3

Title:	Gravity Crash
Platform:	PS3
Media:	Available via the PSN Store (£6.29)
Rating:	Avoid  ·  Try  ·  Buy

Synopsis

A classic take on a retro theme. Its like having your own personal arcade with funky disco lights flashing accompanied by a very funky sound track. Kudos to the developers "Just Add Water". Its a cracker.

Its the future, well an interpretation of the future, as clearly you can never be in the future as then its the present − duh. Anyhoo, our intrepid hero has been tasked with navigating a number of dangerous scenarios drifting from planet to planet collecting various items and escaping via a worm hole.

Funky HD graphics aside this is a modern take on the classic Thrust game, where you pilot a ship and can only apply thrust to propel your ship in the direction it faces. The beauty of this update is that it adheres to the fundamental qualities of the original, whilst offering some very worthwhile adjustments, developers "Just Add Water " we salute you.

In addition you also get a level editor to boggle your friends with your genius and cunning as you unleash levels so fiendishly tricky that the fiendish Fu Manchu twirls his evil moustache and tips his hat in appreciation. The common reviewer comparison with another PS3 based game "Pixel Junkies Shooter" is interesting but I believe ill-judged. While both have roots in the same game, the graphical approach and mechanisms within the games are sufficiently different for both to be safely added to your gaming library without recourse to the legal department. Indeed when you see the storyboard for gravity crash, you appreciate just how similar the games could have been and take a short gulp. However, it appears someones creative juices were following after a spectacular night on the town and they decided upon a more showy interface.

Game Play

The aim of the game is to achieve an objective and then make your way to a wormhole which takes you onto yet another objective. To ensure your interest, the levels contain lots of lovely graphics and things shooting at you - how nice. Each level requires you to collect or destroy some specific objects, for instance you have the ability to land your craft at carefully identified aspects of the level to pick up stranded spacemen.

As your ship travels from around the level, its fuel cells will be depleted and require you to refuel by shooting then collecting the shards of energy floating in space. This can be quite tricky at first, but is an essential element of the game and one you will need to master as the levels become more difficult. Once your objective is completed a worm hole will appear and you are able to progress to the next level. Of course there is also the now traditional big boss to entertain you after progressing into the game. These beasts do not and provide a suitable challenge, occupying the majority of the screeen and ensuring your reflexes are fully tested during an onslaught of biblical proportions - well maybe the King James version anyway. The screen also contains a handy radar to allow you navigate tricky terrain and see the layout of the level, very useful in a meteor shower! For those of you who are , how can I put it, er not very good at this type of game, there is also a training mode before dropping you into the main game (and even then you get a shield, as Bugsy Malones Dandy Dan character put it "too kind guys, too kind").

Scores are stored on a central server so bragging rights can be yours, no cheating allowed, so continues reset your score. The addition of the level editor should ensure you have an appropriate amount of fun and is brilliant entertainment for the kids who will be able to quickly get into the simplistic game play and controls. Constructing a level is very quick and simple and can be shared with the community if you so wish. It also makes for some interesting ideas in terms of what shapes can be recreated via the editor. The developers make a point of indicating all the levels within the game where constructed using the editor, so clearly if they can do it, you should be able to! Overall this is a welcome addition to the PS3 gaming library, I also look forward to the planned PSP version - although with the the right analogue stick I am not sure how well this will work. A very good game and one the retro gamer will definately appreciate.

Links

Read about Gravity Crash on the Playstation Blog
Just Add Water Home Page