Hello again
people, what’s happening?
This week I’m happy to tell you I will be appraising
my first IOS title meaning two things; firstly, all you clever IPad /
IPhone users can get your dextrous digits all over it right now at the push of
a button, and secondly that I’m going to be over-using words containing ‘app’!
There have
been a host of appetising IOS titles lately
which should appeal to anyone in need of a rapid gaming fix and before I start the main review I
just want appoint a top 10 list of IOS games I most approve of: Plants vs Zombies (1 and 2), Galaxy on
Fire 2 HD, Organ Trail, Dead Ahead, The Devil’s Attorney, Hunters 2, Plague
Inc., Sentinel 3 Homeworld, Kingdom Rush (original and Frontiers) and Eufloria
HD. If you’ve played any of them then I applaud you,
and I am sure you will agree they are well worth the money. If you haven’t
played any of these fantastic titles yet, then frankly I’m appalled.
But before
you rush off to the App store there is a game
that has a certain quality that really sets it apart from
the rest, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.
Join the tranquil bohemian musical masterpiece. Cure your soul sickness. |
Created by
the tiny 24 strong Canadian development studio Capybara
Games, the pretentiously named Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
first appeared in February 2011 on the IPad, a
device I didn’t own at the time (although I would have sawn off an appendage to!). As a result I could only read reviews
that repeatedly recommended it and curiously admire screenshots from afar whilst
wondering what all the fuss was about. It finally made the jump to IPhone in April of the same year whereupon I snapped it up like a hungry Anaconda.
…Anacondas
eat Capybaras in the Peruvian Amazon.
Nevermind.
The game has
since received high critical praise and can proudly boast of accolades including
‘Best Downloadable Game’, ‘Best Indie Game’, an ‘Innovation Award’ and
crucially for this review, an ‘Achievement In Art’. Not surprisingly Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
is now available on Android and Steam along with a micro version, tailored to
IPod touch and IPhones and has sold a total of over 1.5 million units. Its
soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, which received a ‘Best Original
Music Award’, is also
available to download on all of the aforementioned formats and is to date the
only videogame soundtrack I have ever parted with money for.
Anyway, I’ll
begin recapping my experience. Upon starting up
the game you’re met by the Archetype who asks you if you have “Got
Headphones?”. I dutifully unwrapped mine and plugged
them in and felt the music transform into true stereo before journeying into
the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains for my appointment
with fate.
The ambient
composition upon your arrival is relaxing and serine, a dog is yapping, sheep are bleating and a brook is babbling.
It’s a peaceful and oddly beautiful place.
You’re prompted to listen and to touch, and as you do your character (the ambiguously
gendered Scythian) moves towards your fingertips, splashing pixels of water
into the air as you step into puddles. Soon the real soundtrack fades in, one
of several bittersweet melodies that set and maintain the uniquely immersive
atmosphere of the game throughout its four chapters.
Androgynous apparel. Fan art tells me the Scythian is apparently a girl… I don’t see it myself. |
Tap tapping on objects grants you more information on
them: investigating a sheep for example yields the observation that several
“worthless sheep are lazing around in the meadow” and interacting with a previously
unidentified object may inform you that it is a “thingamajig”. Upon being
introduced to Logfella, who is “cool”, you are told he will escort you up the
mountain to Mingi Taw, although he isn’t all that “jazzed about it” due to the apparition who lies in wait. These bizarre and
strangely colloquial explanations / one sided dialogues add an intangible air
of mystery to the game and are clearly off kilter with it’s Iron Age setting.
The experience approaches an almost dreamlike state in its surreality,
particularly during its later sections where you can enter the night-time
B-Side of the EP by napping at Logfella,
Dogfella and Girl’s fireplace and meet the Grizzled Boor (a beat boxing bear);
however it never runs the risk of being too kooky as these peculiarities are
few and far between. A reward for people with a love of exploration.
Its much more impressive in motion... |
And strap on your fur boots because a love of exploration
is needed with this game, as is a persistent and patient mind capable of puzzle solving using fuzzy logic and trial
and error. It is often the way with ‘arty’ games that there is no real tutorial
or hand holding, a part of the experience is to learn the nuances in the
mechanics and to paw over the stunning yet poorly mapped
out environments searching for clues.
It is well
worth your time ‘just walking’ around and getting wrapped
up in the lovingly crafted scenery. The roaming animals, from the
fluttering birds to the dappled deer, have been
reduced to their most minimalistically pixel components and yet remain familiar
and adorable in their appearance and movements.
The world is small, sure, but feels alive in a manner that most games don’t
achieve. Even the famous Giraffe scene in the Last of Us (whilst deeply
poignant) was a scripted event, appended into
the game to add depth. The Giraffes don’t notice your presence, nor do they
react to you in any way. Unlike most games where there is a clear and jarring
boundary between the interactive and non-interactive world, the world depicted with
aplomb in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
feels unabridged, vibrant and tangible.
Animal, vegetable, mineral and pixel. Minimalistic beauty. |
During the
game you are tasked with locating the whereabouts of the haphazardly placed Sylvan Sprites (space babies),
which by and large involves creating chains of musical notes by touching
various flora and fauna in the correct order whilst your character “Sings a
Song of Sworcery”. The game was made bespoke for touchscreens and it’s during
these “Songs” that all of the elements pull together. Tactile, audio-visual,
cerebral and emotive. There is a great sense of accomplishment when you apply yourself and solve a
puzzle which is often accompanied by a ground-breaking and breath-taking event.
Its apparent during
these sections just how much love went into this games creation.
An unforgettable moment. |
The final gameplay element I want to mention is that of combat.
Now, this is an RPG… of sorts. There is no levelling as such, but your character does change
between each chapter. How these changes manifest themselves is something you
just need to find out, they typically occur directly after grappling with one of the game’s boss encounters. The
bosses, like all the combatants met during in this game (not that there are
many, and yes this is a good thing) are beaten through the cunning use of rhythm.
Listening to the crescendoing music and reacting to audio cues such as claps of thunder using either your sword or shield
sounds disappointing and dull, but in practice the
perfect pacing and awe inspired soundtrack generate an incredibly epic mood.
Boss fights are tense. Don’t knock them until you have tried them! |
I
was always on the edge of my seat throughout combat, and during boss battles I
never felt ‘out of the woods’ even as their health is sapped
away. Battles are a tiring, but ultimately gratifying part of this
wonderful and soul searching game. I could bang on for hours about this
masterpiece, but it’s time to draw this review to a close and pop the question…
But
is it art?
It’s
not just art, but the quintessential art game. The yard-stick by which other
games are measured. This title has gone a long way towards setting the standard
of Apps and indie titles… perhaps even gaming as a whole. A simple, yet complex
journey fully realised by the superb choice of platform upon which it has been
presented. If you let yourself play it you will become trapped
by its majesty. Buy it. Become enraptured.
Verdict =
ART
Keeping eyes peeled and ears to the ground for this upcoming game. |
Just
a brief appendix: Capybara
games are in the process of making a next generation console game,
namely Below on the Xbox One. A snappy title. My
tip is that it is going to be one to watch.
Thanks
again to Andy Woo Woo for helping me on this one!