Oh man, this looks gorgeous, but I tend to be pretty hit-or-miss with both runners & physics-based games, so I think I'll wait a bit and load up on gameplay videos before spending the $4. Immediately added to wishlist.
Thanks! Always nice to see a game that's actually close to it's download size. I was fearing this might be one of those lookers that blows up to 500 MB or something.
Does this game have an overarching story? the "40 unique levels" sounds like there's a definite goal/win condition/endpoint, but most of the comments indicate it's an endless runner. Does the player indeed "discover what's going on" and find a way to fix/flee the thing that's terribly wrong, or is it more of a score chaser?
Was interested in this game. Either getting this or holding out for Gemini Rue next week My main concerns are: Is only one way to beat a level. Do you always have to shrink or expand or multiply to get past a certain obstacle or are there multiple possibilities? Any replay value? High scores or faster times? Collectibles that require to adjust your run to get them (rather than speed through, more of a puzzle-esque aspect)? How complex are later levels? Or how complex can they be if you only moving forward? So far I've seen "portals", spikes, crushers, some mechanics based on timing, etc. Finally any kind of randomized endless mode or maybe the possibility for one in an update?
It's just first impressions and might change after a few hours' deliberations - I really need to go to sleep! - but initial reaction is holy hell, this is brilliant. It's Limbo mashed up with a wonderfully replayable endless runner, a beautifully designed one-touch control system and European whimsy for the production values. And it works. It really, really works. I usually hate games, well, endless runners that go for the "press screen to rise, let go to fall" approach, they're too often wildly over- or under-responsive in my experience (I loathed Polara's gravity wave controls, for one), but this absolutely nails it. The nuances are just great - sure, you're moving left to right and shifting UP or DOWN but here you can rapidly tap to fly more or less straight forward, hold to crawl along the ceiling, let go to drop, maybe drop then course-correct to soar gracefully down through tight corridors, launch yourself back up fast to shift movable objects out of your way, grab size UP pickups so you're heavy enough to shift weighty stuff, even drop like a stone and smash through the scenery to get through alternate paths... You might grab a ton of followers and have to split them up, frantically manoeuvring both groups over the obstacles; you might be forced to collect size UP pickups with one group which inflates both groups and then scramble to get the size DOWN pickups with the other group before all of you get stuck because you're too big to continue... and all that's hardly spoiling anything. I don't want to get too enthusiastic? There's a lot of trial and error, which doesn't always feel as much fun as you'd hope. It seems needlessly, pointlessly tough in places to finish with one of the little guys, let alone two or more (it's got Limbo's sense of malice as well as the ominous silhouettes). And the levels are often quite short, despite the addition of missions to complete so you can three-star everything. Plus there's some moments where it grinds into single-digit framerates on my old iTouch 4G (though it's not just having a lot of things on screen - sometimes it's really busy but still silky-smooth). <EDIT:> It's not totally rigid, there isn't a precise sequence of moves you need to do - you don't always have to move at a certain point or collect X amount of powerups or followers or what have you. But it is far more linear than open, the levels are puzzles to be solved, not worlds to explore, and again you will very likely end up dying a lot trying to work out which is the right way to go or whether you were supposed to pick up a particular powerup or not. That doesn't totally feel like a bad thing? If nothing else it's a way, way better endless runnerXplatformer IMO than Rayman: Jungle Run, which I cannot understand why everyone likes so much. But if you flat out don't like endless runners or you really want a platformer where you have to stop and think then this might not strike you as quite so great. </EDIT> But Jesus, I'm really, really enjoying this right at the moment - I need to get some rest before work tomorrow and I'm struggling to resist the temptation to keep going. I might sour on it after a while - who knows? I'm not as big a fan of runners as some of you. Still, for what it's worth, the premium price is totally justified as far as I'm concerned. If it stays this much fun this could be one of my favourite games this year. Double EDIT: While getting to the end of a level can be done with perseverance (so far) it bears mentioning that even the missions on the early levels seem staggeringly tough. Finishing a level in one try seems like a huge, huge achievement most of the time. But for all the randomness in the physics and the unfair nature of some of the level design (oh, you're doing well? HAVE A GIANT BOULDER OUT OF THE CEILING) it still has a Trials HD-esque just-one-more-go quality to it. It's not quite up to that level of genius, but close, IMO. Whether or not I end up disliking the game in the long run I'm pretty sure some people are absolutely going to love it.
Really enjoying this one. The graphics are really slick and the one touch controls are perfect for iOS. The different orbs that change your character make for nice variety.
I just watched TA's playthrough - which made me literally LOL a number of times - and it looks so cool. The difficulty makes me wary, but the game does do excellently with checkpoints. Resolve.. wavering..
Game Impressions This is quite special. What easily could have been just a very strong mechanic with very strong physics, becomes something a lot more because it's been combined with dedication, unwavering inventiveness, and attention to detail. The thought that kept crossing my mind repeatedly is that really, I've never played anything quite like this before. The highest achievement by far though, is that this also happens to be one of those rare titles that manages to not only entertain the player, but also elicit an emotional response.
For some reason, I'm always very interested to read your thoughts on any given title. I wasn't planning on picking this up, but this post and a few minutes of the TA Pkays video sold me. Thanks for the insight.
This game is amazing. Just a beautiful piece of art through and through. Its like a physics limbo runner platformer hahaha. It gets challenging , there is 3 challenges per stage they get progressivly harder like save 20 clones pretty tough to do with out killing them really easy. There is alot of timing involved love the traps too giant boulder squish lol. Great job frogmind ! This is art and gaming in its truest form alot of love went into this title. Very talented devs hope they check out the forums anyone send them links?
They've been posting in the upcoming thread. ...where I totally called on the awesomeness of this game.
Well i was on the fence as i really dont like runner style games or one button games. But i downloaded this and yeah despite really being quite a simple game (often the best) it really does play well and the graphics and sound are superb. I'm always one to harp on about playability above anything like graphics/sound but this game has a great mix of all 3. Its a nice casual type game, as i said the graphics are superb, filesize isnt crazy, there seems to be a lot of content and more to come. Very happy i bought this instantly, its a quality game, again we moan about freemium/usual tripe devs churn out, support a game like this (and then we get more).
This is undeniably an incredibly gorgeous and polished looking game, but watching the TA video didn't really grab me. As someone put it, a 'physics runner', which kinda doesn't feel right to me. The fact that the engine never stops moving kinda makes me not want to play.
Anyone on the fence about this game- GO BUY IT NOW! I took the plunge as it looks cool and it has absolutely blown me away and exceeded all my expectations. Music and sound design are absorbing and atmospheric (this is the first game I have besides ridic fishing where I turn my iPod off while playing.) Graphics are the most beautiful thing I have seen so far on my iPhone. a mix of limbos darkness and backdrops that would look right in a Sci fi movie made by the band Yes. Gameplay is simple yet deep, every level adds new mechanics that keep things fresh and keep your mind engaged. The real bonus for me was the replay value, each level has 3 missions to complete aside from just passing the stage, and each mission varies from level to level so it is not a mind numbing collect all the stars type deal. Some missions are survival based and some are objective based. And there is also a really fun seperate multiplayer mode where four mates can play on one device. ALL IN ALL, the game is 5 star heaven. Download it now and make your day!
Game Impressions Played about half. It's starting to get more difficult and I thought I'd post. Damn fine game. Highly recommended. I don't think Badland is a "runner;" asthetics aside it has part Jetpack Joyride yes, but also a large part precision a la Bike Baron. Makes sense considering the developers worked on Trials in the past. Levels are meticulously designed - I can picture the later levels (and missions in general) posing a serious challenge. Good pacing, too, mixing up parts where you blast through with a giant flock and others where you crawl along with one dude. I like the way new mechanics are steadily introduced. Also praise the lord the game doesn't pause to put up a text box "you got the blue speed up" or whatever the first time you get a new item! The varying weight of your man adds an urgency to the usual Balloon Fight action. I find myself holding my breath like "come on baby" in the tricky parts. Kudos Frogmind!
