It's surprising that not many games let water effect their gameplay, other than things like "turn the valve and water goes down the drain." Strange Loop's metroidvania styled platformer, Vessel, looks to change that. Vessel has a really well designed water physics engine, that all the puzzles revolve around. While sure, it's innovative enough..But does it add up to be a worthwhile experience?
http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/vessel_title_no_train-1024x576.jpg
In Vessel, you play as the inventor of these "living liquid machines" called Fluros. Fluros are these little eyeballs that, when added to water, they twist and bend the water into humanoid robots. The inventor's name is Arkwright - though that doesn't matter much, as you're never given a reason to care about him. Instead, we're made to care about Arkwright's inventions. After using a fluro for a while, and lava drops on his head, it can be disappointing to see your little buddy go up in smoke...Or steam, in that case.
Just Add Water!
http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/007-300x153.pngThere are several types of Fluros, and puzzles often need more than one to be solved. Some will chase you, others will run away, and some will even run to the nearest glowing pressure plate. They're all controlled by Arkwright's combination vacuum/water gun that looks a lot like something a Ghostbuster would wear, and deployed by throwing 'seeds', the little eyeballs I mentioned before. The spray gun can be upgraded by collecting a glowing goo called Protoplasm. Once you have enough, you're able to teleport back to Arkwright's workshop, choose an upgrade for your spray gun, and boom you got a more powerful vacuum or higher pressure water spray.
Vessel easily falls into the "metroidvania" category. It's a two dimensional platformer with puzzles that can be solved in whatever order you want, with upgradable equipment. It was easy for me to appreciate the fast-travel feature of Vessel, especially considering the many puzzles there are to solve. With as much as two or three clicks, you're back into the workshop or working on that puzzle you wanted to hold off on while your mind cooled down
The best aspect of Vessel, hands down, is the visuals. Seeing a Fluro not have enough fluid to fully form is pretty funny. They'll have one arm, be slightly shorter than a normal fluro, and wiggle around struggling to stand up...And then collapse back into their base element. That sort of thing mixed with an almost steampunkish art style, it's quite an original looking game.http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/002-300x153.png
Some of the puzzles are infuriatingly simple, while others aren't very complex, but the game doesn't give any hint on what to do. In one of the earlier rooms, I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to open a door, only to find out that the little fan at the very bottom of the screen needed to be turned to open it. This wouldn't have been a problem, if all the other doors in the room worked the same. After all that, the smug Fluros just stare at me smiling and wobbling around waiting for me to move them off the machines that needed to be fixed. But I guess that's what bugged me about the game. The music, the visuals, the Fluros..They all gave me a 'smug' vibe. I would, however, recommend Vessel to those who are looking for a fun, indie platformer with unique and challenging puzzles.
VERDICT
+ Fluid physics work well
+ Mostly fun puzzles
- Repetitive/boring music
- SMUG BASTARDS!
This review was made using the completed version of the game provided by developer,Strange Loop
Find more reviews and articles from me and others at chronogamers.com!
(Also, feedback on how to improve writing is always welcome!)
http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/vessel_title_no_train-1024x576.jpg
In Vessel, you play as the inventor of these "living liquid machines" called Fluros. Fluros are these little eyeballs that, when added to water, they twist and bend the water into humanoid robots. The inventor's name is Arkwright - though that doesn't matter much, as you're never given a reason to care about him. Instead, we're made to care about Arkwright's inventions. After using a fluro for a while, and lava drops on his head, it can be disappointing to see your little buddy go up in smoke...Or steam, in that case.
Just Add Water!
http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/007-300x153.pngThere are several types of Fluros, and puzzles often need more than one to be solved. Some will chase you, others will run away, and some will even run to the nearest glowing pressure plate. They're all controlled by Arkwright's combination vacuum/water gun that looks a lot like something a Ghostbuster would wear, and deployed by throwing 'seeds', the little eyeballs I mentioned before. The spray gun can be upgraded by collecting a glowing goo called Protoplasm. Once you have enough, you're able to teleport back to Arkwright's workshop, choose an upgrade for your spray gun, and boom you got a more powerful vacuum or higher pressure water spray.
Vessel easily falls into the "metroidvania" category. It's a two dimensional platformer with puzzles that can be solved in whatever order you want, with upgradable equipment. It was easy for me to appreciate the fast-travel feature of Vessel, especially considering the many puzzles there are to solve. With as much as two or three clicks, you're back into the workshop or working on that puzzle you wanted to hold off on while your mind cooled down
The best aspect of Vessel, hands down, is the visuals. Seeing a Fluro not have enough fluid to fully form is pretty funny. They'll have one arm, be slightly shorter than a normal fluro, and wiggle around struggling to stand up...And then collapse back into their base element. That sort of thing mixed with an almost steampunkish art style, it's quite an original looking game.http://chronogamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/002-300x153.png
Some of the puzzles are infuriatingly simple, while others aren't very complex, but the game doesn't give any hint on what to do. In one of the earlier rooms, I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to open a door, only to find out that the little fan at the very bottom of the screen needed to be turned to open it. This wouldn't have been a problem, if all the other doors in the room worked the same. After all that, the smug Fluros just stare at me smiling and wobbling around waiting for me to move them off the machines that needed to be fixed. But I guess that's what bugged me about the game. The music, the visuals, the Fluros..They all gave me a 'smug' vibe. I would, however, recommend Vessel to those who are looking for a fun, indie platformer with unique and challenging puzzles.
VERDICT
+ Fluid physics work well
+ Mostly fun puzzles
- Repetitive/boring music
- SMUG BASTARDS!
This review was made using the completed version of the game provided by developer,Strange Loop
Find more reviews and articles from me and others at chronogamers.com!
(Also, feedback on how to improve writing is always welcome!)