// FEZ

Initially announced in 2007 this retro arcade title seemed to go into hiding before its final release in 2012. Now, this is the place I usually start by saying “I watched this game’s development for yadayada…” like the gaming snob I am, however the truth is that I first heard about it around 3 weeks before its release.

As well as being plagued by Duke Nukem and Alan Wake syndrome, FEZ’s other claim to infamy comes in the form of its lead developer Phil Fish being viciously criticised by both fans and the press. Withholding patches that are ‘too expensive’ for indie game developers is one thing, but publicly insulting the entire Japanese gaming industry, stating that gamers are the worst type of people AND telling a critic to “Suck my di*k. Choke on it” on twitter, have cast Phil into a bad light… but enough about that! What matters is the product right? After all, Gordon Ramsey might not talk nice but he sure makes good food!

My story begins after I downloaded the demo out of curiosity. I then proceeded to sit and stare for a long time at the title screen before finally pressing anything and jumping into the action. 

This sense of illusion translates into all aspects of the game.
How many orientations can you see? 

The game starts by Gomez, a cute little… well I’m not certain when he is meant to be actually, rising out of bed ready to embrace the day. Leaving his drum kit alone and stepping outside, his first quest is to simply climb up to the top of his 2D village and take part in a ceremony of sorts.

Along the way you encounter a number of fellow villagers, many of whom are very vocal about their contentment of living in a 2D world. A few even make mention of ‘Devil Squares’, otherwise known as cubes to you and I, and several even joke of there being another dimension. It’s curiously innocent and fascinating to explore this area, looking in on a culture sheltered from something so basic as a third dimension strangely got me thinking that perhaps we too are sheltered?!

Although I’m aware that this was probably just me.

Jump and climb your way to victory. Simple, right?

Gomez’s idyllic everyday village lifestyle is soon interrupted and threatened when disaster strikes during a routine ritual involving the ‘Hexahedron’. The golden cube deity fractures and explodes hurling its 64 component parts (cubes and anti-cubes) all across the land sending the world and your mind into disarray. And when I say your mind, I mean your mind. The fourth wall has not been broken so well in gaming since Metal Gear Solid’s ‘Psycho Mantis’ could move your control pad across the floor with just the power of his thought.

Charged with the task of recovering these errant cubes you are granted a brain bogglingly complex power, the power of a 3D perception. This power, bestowed upon you by the red fez on your head, forms the core gameplay mechanic. By tapping either LB or RB (on the xbox) the world will rotate by 90 degrees allowing you access to areas previously unreachable. This mechanic opens up worlds unimaginable to the village’s 2D inhabitants, allowing you to defy logic and physics by solving puzzles using forced perspectives and optical illusions that would make the likes of M.C.Escher and Victor Vasarely proud.

FEZ even has its own day/night cycle. Yes, this does affect the puzzles.

Navigating this beautiful environment is surprisingly simple by and large, and you rapidly come to understand FEZ’s own unique physical world. Should you make a mistake and plummet to your death, you return to exactly where you fell from, all but erasing the frustration element that plagues nearly all platform games. You’re also joined by a guide named Dot (with similarities to Navi from Ocarina of Time) to aid you on your quest who provides the occasional funny one liners and the odd vague hint to assist you with certain puzzles…

Oh god, the puzzles…

I’ve left the puzzles until last as they are for me the defining element of FEZ. Do you remember playing games like 'MYST' and 'Are you afraid of the Dark' when you were younger? Keeping a piece of paper and pen on standby to write down clues and hints as you figured them out? Making notes of strange symbols trying to piece them together or writing down disparate sentences from a riddle? FEZ taps directly into that mentality and takes you back to an innocent and happier (although occasionally perplexing) place.

Someone should put this on a T-shirt.

A friend and I played this game together and were enjoying it on a superficial level for a time. We saw the hidden QR codes and we had an inkling that perhaps there was more to the hieroglyphic letters than mere aesthetics. Then my clever, clever friend cracked it. We had stumbled upon the de-coding tablet in the woods, deciphered the alphabet and we were hooked. My friend even cancelled his planned train journey home in favour of 100%ing this game, which we did with only 2 checks of the internet (anyone who has played this game will understand this feat).

We were simply staggered by the subtle complexity of this game. It is THE most cryptic and understated game I have EVER played. Even now I can still read the language almost fluently because of the pure repetition of reviewing notes. And the hidden language was not the only code to crack in this game… still, I’ve said too much as it is. FEZ’s cute and enchanting exterior belies the intensely intricate game beneath.

But is it art?

FEZ is beautiful in a similar way to Sword and Sorcery or Another World and Polytron has absolutely nailed the retro 8-Bit aesthetic in both the visuals and audio. Jumping and climbing around as Gomez to locate the lost cubes is reminiscent of childlike adventuring. The range of locations is vast and the animation is magical. Your eyes are drawn to caterpillars and birds and the whole experience is strangely relaxing. It never ceases to amaze me what immaculate indie wonders can come from such a limited pallet.

But FEZ is a conundrum.

Developed by people with a sincere love of the gaming of yesteryear, and a profound mathematical vision, it is a modern day rubix cube locked in a 6 digit code safe, disguised as a retro soda stream. It is simultaneously both supremely simple and tremendously complex. It has puzzles ranging in difficulty from pushing a button all the way through to solving an upside down riddle in another language. It is safe to say that FEZ has something for everyone who gives it a chance, and whilst I only played this game during the weekend of its release – I only played this game during the weekend of its release.

Charming, sprightly and cerebral…

// LIMBO

Ah LIMBO.

I followed the development of this intriguing title through various magazines and internet articles for months prior to its release in July 2010. Denmark based developer Playdead really excelled when they designed this very special and striking IP. Now, having sold over 1 million copies across various platforms, LIMBO is heralded as one of the all-time great downloadable titles. A hefty feat considering this was the independent studio's  first effort.

LIMBO plays like a puzzle game crossbred with a platformer. Playing as an enigmatic glowing eyed boy, you move from ‘room to room’ encountering increasingly difficult and convoluted logic puzzles with a bit of magnetism, physics and gravity thrown in for good measure. Overall, it’s an addictive and rewarding lateral thinking experience, akin to games like Braid and Portal in some respects...

Yet at the time of its release the overwhelming reaction of punters seemed to be a bit “is that it?”. Costing around £10 for only 4-5 hours gameplay (only 45 minutes from beginning to end once you’ve cracked it) and having no DLC or multiplayer support, LIMBO was often criticised as not having enough bang for your pounds (or bucks, depending upon where you’re from).

This spider is definitely your friend

Nowadays in these enlightened times we can appreciate that LIMBO is, of course, the correct length. It does exactly what it has to do with no excess chaff, and this is particularly evident in it's presentation style.

Cleverly using a wide array of colours such as black, white and… well that’s it actually, Playdead succeeded in crafting an instant and beautiful cult classic. There are no lush green woodlands or fiery orange sunsets in LIMBO, but yet it is beautiful. It’s not the colourful beauty of spring’s vibrant blooming, but the cold and haunting beauty of a foggy autumn dawn. The silhouetted scenery is emotive and sad, though lined here and there with hopeful beams of struggling sunshine.

Its monochromatically morbid visual style is more than just an eye catching gimmick; it embodies everything that LIMBO is - minimalistic and concise. I remember reading a story about Playdead wanting to make the achievements impossibly hard to obtain so that the intrusive green and grey notifications would not ruin the atmosphere… As my old man always used to say; “why use 16.7 million colours when you can do it in 2”.

Even the music is low key. And by low key I mean absent. Rather than having a rich and complex orchestral score, like many would-be-art-games, LIMBO opts for setting the scene with eerie sound effects and ambient background noise. Be it the dry creaking of wooden planks underfoot or the oppressively piercing shriek of a circular saw blade, the audio always perfectly suits the situation at hand.

It's a cheery sort of game

As well as with LIMBO’s sensory aspects, this stark design philosophy is reflected in it’s storyline and gameplay too. Starting you out lying on the grass in a dark mysterious forest infested with flies and bear traps, the aim of the game is to move right until you win, tying in nicely with the non-existent narrative… Somewhere in the game’s description on the Xbox Live Marketplace is the hidden story ‘Uncertain of his Sister’s Fate, a Boy enters LIMBO…’ but there are next to no clues of this as you play. No dialog, no wordy descriptions and no scrolling backstory; you must simply press on to your unknown fate.

Enjoy having all your limbs while it lasts

All of LIMBO’s elements combine seamlessly and intelligently to create a feeling. You’re never told why you should empathise with the small boy, you just do. LIMBO is psychological, drawing on childhood fear of the dark, mute helplessness, monsters and menace. If you’ve ever had a nightmare in which you’re running away from something unseen and evil, or one wherein you’re unable to move and can’t control your actions, then you know how LIMBO can make you feel.

And it’s hard.

The challenging gameplay absorbs you, and the perpetual lemmings-like bloody, gory, gruesome deaths set your nerves on edge. If you want to finish in <5 lives you’re in for a tough ride. Every twig on the ground seems rigged to spring up and impale your small body and every bump on the ceiling is a loose boulder waiting to crush the light from your eyes. Paranoia and distrust set in fast and can even overwhelm you. Don’t play your first run-though in the dark.

Oops... Timing is key...

But is it art?

LIMBO sticks to it's guns, with its bare visuals and rudimentary audio defying the conventions of modern gaming. Analyse its meaning or accept it as it is, LIMBO leaves the player alone to their own imagination, and that for me is exceptional.

The grim, desolate and frankly terrifying world of LIMBO will have you pause in your tracks to stare awestruck and confused at the genius puzzle design, only to be chopped in two by clipper saw. The graphical details seen consistently throughout the game are astonishing, particularly the small touches like the way the dead grass sways as you pass by.

It’s highly polished, challenging, fun, oppressive, depressing, exhilarating, perplexing and oddly funny too. Once you have completed the game and seen it's conclusion you can even add deep and provocative to that list.

Verdict = ART

Thanks to Andy for his input on this one xxx