Thursday, August 6, 2009

Gravitee 2 -- Review

Huzzah for generic header pic. Wait. This is a generic header caption! Oh, The humanity!

If you've been playing Flash Games for even a little bit (Which I'm sure you have, as that's who this blog is directed toward), you probably know that very few sports games can be pulled off successfully in Flash. Recently a game came out that shows how great Flash Games can represent sports -- Gravitee 2. Sure, golf isn't one of the more "manlier" or "tougher" sports, but it is a sport and few popular flash games are modeled from sports. (Yes, there are endless putt-putt clones, but I said "popular flash games" ;D) Gravitee 2 offers a new take on the classic "hit golf-ball into hole" putt-putt game, by putting your golf course in space! (Please forgive that horrible pun.)

Gameplay: 9.5/10 -- Gameplay-wise, Gravitee 2 does everything right. It's difficulty doesn't ramp up too fast, it's nice and creative, relaxing, easy to learn, and overall fun. There are three game modes, all in which your goal is clear: In one, your goal is simply to collect as many of the orbs as possible. In another, your goal is to send your ball through all of the rings in order, and in the last, it's a classic "Get the ball through the hoop" scenario. The twist comes when you remember you are playing in space. You will find your golf ball swinging around planets as if it were a tether-ball, and then using that momentum to fling itself out of one planet's gravitational field and into another's. Your goals (whether they be hoops, orbs, or rings) are scattered around or on various planets in the level, and each planet has a gravitational pull. It's up to you to decide where to hit your shot to take advantage of those pulls, and give your ball an edge. This adds a whole new element to the typical putt-putt game, and Gravitee even adds in suns that you aren't allowed to touch, else your golf-ball will be incinerated. In this installment of the Gravitee series the developer even goes so far as to include wormholes that teleport you to the other wormhole in the pair. You'll find yourself having lots of fun playing around with the planets gravitational pulls, and while levels tend to get monotonous toward the end, you'll find yourself pushing to beat that last level.

Graphics: 10/10 -- Gravitee 2's visuals are very pleasing. All of the planets are colorful and have a pattern on them, and with forty different patterns on planets, it almost seems like every planet is different. The animations (Well, the only animation, the ball moving) are very smooth and well done. Some of the best graphics in a flash game in a good while. Just goes to show that sometimes, simple = better.

Difficulty: 7.5/10 -- During your first play-through of Gravitee 2, you'll find that the game is a bit too easy. (So long as you aren't striving for gold every level.) If you decide to take it to the next level and clear all levels with a gold rating, you'll find it's a very good challenge level. However, if you plan to complete all levels with a Platinum rating, you will find yourself in for a very strenuous time. In order to obtain the coveted "Platinum" rating for a level, you must turn on Platinum Mode, which takes away the indicator that says where your ball will go. Yes, you'll be working entirely on guesswork. So, it can be far too easy, just right, or too hard, depending on how you play the game.

Sounds: 5.5/10 -- The music and sound effects in Gravitee 2 are great for the first few levels, but just don't have the appeal to make you want to leave them on. I, for one, found the music got very repetitive, and the sound effects were almost nonexistent. I found myself muting the game and Sound Effects by around the tenth level into the game. Overall, not amazing.

Replayability: 9/10 -- Other than the main game, there are several other things to keep you coming back to Gravitee 2 to do, such as completing the game with an all Gold or Platinum rating, or achieving all of the ninety awards. Achieving awards (which, in fact, are just achievements) will unlock new Rewards (Such as a Gravitational Pull shower and line that shows where your ball has traveled) and will slowly make your guideline longer the more awards you get. Overall, plenty of things to do in Gravitee 2.

Overall: 8.5/10 --> 4.25/5 -- While the gameplay, graphics, and replayability are spot-on, the sounds and sometimes the difficulty (depending if what you're aiming for) really take away from the game's fun. Still, since those two aren't horrible flaws, it deserves still a high score and a lot of praise. It is definitely worth a play, even if you weren't a fan of the first. (Badges, perhaps, greg?)


PLAY GRAVITEE 2

GRAVITEE 2 WALKTHROUGH
^Credit goes to Tasselfoot for the walkthrough^