Universal Polara - (by Hope This Works)

First of all, amazing game. Got truly absorbed in it, and what had seemed to be a quick half an hour had quickly turned into almost 2 hours of constant play

The animations are really high quality, it's amazing how fluidly Lara runs, moves, somersaults etc. Little details like beams being interrupted whenever you pass through them are a nice touch as well. Bosses are really well done (done the first two).

Gameplay actually reminded me a lot of my old time favorite iOS series Hook Champ, more specifically the third one, the future gnome bit. Especially when it comes to the levels with the gravity swapping which are a serious mind f...udge sometimes I just find it regretful that it comes down more and more to trial and error, and remembering patterns of things to come, instead of being able to react on instinct on what you see coming, or at least, my reflexes aren't up to scratch when it comes to it. Though the designers do seem to have realized this, and have alternated levels where you need to rely heavily on memory and ones you can do on reflex in a way that it doesn't become frustrating. Either way, checkpoints are frequent enough that it never becomes frustrating either, typically there's no more then 10-15 seconds between them.

The extra objectives after completing a level are a nice touch too. Did the first 2 levels only, more focused on completing the story still at the moment. The only thing I'd like to see changed is either not showing the animation anymore after letters/special objects have been obtained in a level, or make the animation they use skippable. It's kinda annoying having to wait for the animation to finish if you're rerunning a level trying to get it flawless.

And if all that content wasn't enough there's extra game modes as well to top it all off. You start off with an Endless runner unlocked, and unlike the story this seems mostly just reflex based, giving you ample time to react, with some pattern recognition for some segments. Those segments seem to be coming directly from the main game at least, so if you find particular segments troubling I guess you can practice by playing through the story level(s) that feature(s) them. There's more modes to unlock by picking up the collectibles in the story levels which appear after first completing them, but haven't got any yet.

Love the music for the first and second set of levels (ie, the sets between cutscenes). Seriously dislike the... noise... that's supposed to be the 21-30 'music'. It just really clashes after the first 2 sets, and would really love to see this changed. As for now I'm just switching off music for this part.

Some other minor nitpicks, it'd be awesome if there was a slight countdown from 3 to 1 before the action starts again after picking up from a pause, while checkpoints are frequent, if your game gets interrupted by a call (or a low battery warning ) it often means death. Also, I'd love if achievement spam could be delayed until after you complete a level, or for Endless, when you die. They're extremely distracting, and if there's one thing you can't use in this game it's being distracted, which quickly became evident as I died just after my 1000 meters popup in Endless

Phew, that was a bit more text then I was planning at first. All in all, great game, near perfect.

 

As time moves on, the Runner genre is getting more and more interesting. Considering most running/auto-running platformer games out there only have one or two button controls, the amount of complexity that can be found within the genre is very impressive. Hope This Works Game’s newest title, Polara, definitely falls into that impressive category. Since we saw the trailer for this Ikaruga inspired runner, we’ve been incredibly psyched about it’s release, and now that it’s out, and we’ve got our hands on it, we haven’t been let down. In fact, it’s even more impressive than we thought it would be.

Polara’s story follows Agent Lara, a tester for a new type of suit that can pass through the city’s defense system. While testing this suit, Lara is contacted by the outside rebels, learning some potentially disturbing news, and decides to help them in their cause. Now, I should let you all know; I’m a huge sucker for cyberpunk/near future/down with the establishment type stuff. Larry Niven, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, I eat their books up like an addict, always wanting more. So, I know that has a pretty big influence on how much I’m enjoying the story and setting for Polara. But even aside from that, it’s a fantastically challenging and well designed game offering up some great gameplay and multiple modes to try and master.

In fact, there’s 7. 7 different gameplay modes - The Campaign/Story and 6 more endless modes; Random Normal, Random Hard, Random Insane, Gravity Wave, Super Speed and Switch, each offering different mechanics to mess around with and try and conquer, not to mention the GameCenter leaderboards for each of the 6 endless modes that you can try and climb. 50 levels are included in the Story Mode, with story scenes and bosses every 10 stages. As you make your way through each level, you’ll need to change the color of Lara’s suit between Blue and Red, matching the lasers, projectiles and other objects that are thrown at you throughout the game. Polara also keeps track of how many deaths you’ve had in each stage, with GameCenter achievements for making it through 10, 25, and all levels flawlessly. Controls are handled by tapping on the left side of the screen to change between red and blue colors, and the right side to jump, which can also be switched in the options menu.

Once you complete a level, you’re able to go back and collect the letters POLARA and a Special Item. Doing this will require some quick thinking and fast reflexes, as you’ll need to match the color of the letters in order to collect them, almost always switching colors multiple times while in the air to do so, and almost always making a jump that would otherwise result in certain death to collect the special item. With the mix of rotating multi-colored rings, enemies that fire various projectiles, objects that increase your speed or send you into a super jump and many more hazards and nifty objects to weave and switch colors through, it can get incredibly challenging and difficult, though never frustrating. The controls are incredibly responsive, and every time you die, you’ll be cursing yourself for not being quick enough, never at the game.

As you complete the Story Mode stages and go back to collect the POLARA letters and special items, you’ll start to unlock the various other endless modes. Random Normal is already unlocked once you start the game for the first time, but Gravity Wave unlocks after you collect 8 special items, Random Hard unlocks after collecting 10 POLARA’s and reaching 2,000 meters in Random Normal and Random Insane unlocking with 40 POLARA’s and 2,000 meters in Random Hard. The last two modes will unlock once you collect between 20 and 30 POLARA and 16 to 24 special items. Each extra mode focuses on certain objects and hazards from the Story Mode, with Random Normal comprised of all of the regular hazards and mechanics from the Story, Hard is full of all of the harder to get through sections, and Insane is one long string of the hardest sections in Story Mode. Gravity Wave is one section of gravity shifting parts after another. Having your suit change to blue switches gravity, while red makes gravity normal. Super Speed contains all of the sped up sections and Switch, well, you guessed it, requires a WHOLE LOT of switching colors.

The graphics and animations are fantastic. The cut scenes are made up of beautifully hand painted artwork, helping to set the scene and atmosphere perfectly for the gameplay and story. The background cityscapes look amazing as you’re running past them and the dark color scheme helps to add to the dark feeling of the game while also helping to make the blue and red lasers stand out incredibly well. Animations for Lara, the lasers, enemies and bosses are also great, with multiple animations for jumping along with very smooth animations for slowing down and sliding across surfaces.

GameCenter includes 32 achievements, most of which will provide a great challenge for 100% completionists, and the 6 leaderboards definitely help to drive the replay value for the Endless Modes. There is no board for the Campaign, but trying to get through each of the 50 levels without dying will take most players multiple playthroughs, not to mention the POLARA and Special items that you'll be able to collect on your second time through each level. In short, there's endless replay value, and score-chasing opportunities within a great amount of content.

There are ads in-game, but only on the loading screens, and only for Hope This Works other title, Kunundrum. You do not have to exit the ads to progress, and they do not pop up anywhere else in the game. The addition of the Kunundrum ad has helped to keep Polara priced at $0.99, and considering it contains absolutely no IAPs and is Universal, it definitely stands out within the genre. With all of the content and crazy amount of replay value, not to mention the polish within the graphics, environment and story, but also the smoothness of gameplay, even on lower end devices, this $0.99 launching price is a fantastic deal. If you’re a fan of runners, or auto-running platformers, and yes, there is plenty of platforming that can be found in Polara, this is definitely a game you need to pick up. Even if you aren’t a fan of, or use to be a fan of runners, Polara has the potential to make you a fan, or bring you back to the genre. The color changing mechanic and way that it’s used (not feeling like just a gimmick in any sense) adds a ton to the otherwise over saturated genre.

5/5 Stars.

=oD

 

Great review, SV! 99% of our views on games usually are in tune. LOL.

I've picked up and enjoyed other great titles including Crazy Taxi, Funky Smugglers and Girls Like Robots, but Polara seems to be my best purchase this week.

 

=oD

Thanks!

And yup, I've gotta agree... I'm having more fun with Polara than anything else right now. I picked up Girls Like Robots, Funky Smugglers, Ivy The Kiwi? and Crazy Taxi, and though I haven't touched Crazy Taxi yet, I'm finding it hard to pull myself away from Polara. It's outstanding. Depending on how into Crazy Taxi I get, it's really looking like Polara will be my pick for GOTW... and has a strong chance at GOTM...

I'd be comfortable saying it might even end up in my top 10 of the year.

 

I know not everyone will agree to this but i'll say it anyway...

Rayman Jungle Run pales in comparison to Polara... The only thing Rayman has over Polara is the vertical depth of the areas. Although, i have to add, that Rayman Jungle Run and Polara are 2 of the best releases for me this year.

 

SyntheticVoid likes Polara a lot, he even has it twice on his signature, so I'm checking it out (also to see the comparison between this and RJR)

 

ha,... thanks... didn't even realize. =oP

Guess I just wanted to make sure I got it in there. =oP

 

Polara was the only game I bought last night and I'm ecstatic about it!
SV' s review just makes it all the better
Thanks

 

Any more comments on difficulty? I am not in the mood anymore for super-difficult-try-100-times games anymore. I do like the fact that this has no IAP and recommend to add that to the description as well. I just assume every runner-type game these days has IAP, and that makes me less inclined to check them out immediately.

 

If you don't care about getting perfect runs, then no the difficulty is not an issue with checkpoints. But if you want perfect runs, it's pretty difficult and I'm on the early levels so I imagine it will only get rougher. I've played Ikaruga (a shmup if you haven't played it) and the color changes in this require even faster reaction IMO.

I'm loving it though.

 

Great review, SV. Is anyone else getting a Project 83113 vibe from this game? Totally different gameplay of course, but, yeah. Just thinking out loud. Project 83113 is a great game, and so is Polara. Game of the Week so far, for me.

 

Man, another game not designed for iPhone 5. It's not just an esthetic issue, the borders on the side of the screen make you miss jumps.

 

How can you compare between the two? Besides the fact they're both forward-motion auto-runners, there is nothing else similar.

Rayman is a fun romp while Polara is a tough-as-nails game that requires a lot of mental concentration.


PS: I almost choked when Pocketgamer game this game a 4/5 (which I agree with) and said the main downfall is the game's EASYness. Are the high on crack? I give this game 4/5 for the exact opposite reason!!!

 

A game created in a year's time cant simply be iphone5 native as iphone5 didnt even exist yet. Im pretty sure the devs are working to get it added though, even if they dont comment on it.

I dont have an iphone5, but i cant really see how borders make you miss jumps. Again, i dont have an iphone5 so im trying to understand.

 

Unless a game is so incredibly easy that a 2-year-old could play thorugh it or it's completely impossible, then I don't think games should be docked a point for difficulty. Difficulty always is dependent on the gamer.

Gameplay, controls, presentation....those are factors. For instance, if ease was a factor, I found God of Blades to be one of the easiest games I've played on the iOS and it got 5/5 on this and other sites (7/10 on Pocket Gamer, which IMO, is more in line with what it should have been).

This is a solid 5/5 for me and, again IMO, much more deserving of that score than God of Blades.

 

The border issues are based on the fact that the bars at the side are not live for control. So when you tap that area it doesn't do anything.

We're working on making it iphone5 compatible. The game was developed during both the release of the ipad3 and the iphone5 so it's been a bit of a hardware debacle to say the least haha ie: they doubled the resolution after the game art was put in

We're working with the game engine right now and are hoping for a proper release(rather than a daily build) to ensure the game is stable and properly presented.

So happy you all are enjoying it though, that's great!

And as for the difficulty... well the only tip I can give is make sure you manage the colour before you jump. Think of a default colour as being your main colour, that way you always know where you stand when going into an obstacle

Have fun everybody!

 

By the way I just wanted to let everyone know that this game is also available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009IDX8OA

And on Google Play:

http://bit.ly/RiGfk8

Cheers!

 

Great game, best runner of the year for me.