“The only constant that can’t be ignored is the
law of gravity.” Those are some powerful words. You’ll find them on the back of
the box of Gravity, a Wii and DS puzzle game that dares to see how much fun we
can have with blocks and balls.
Based on a system of dropping points (where you
release the ball, which acts as the main “character” of the game, if you can
call it that) and half-circle switches, Gravity is focused on just one thing: in
every stage and across every puzzle, your only goal is to hit the switch. In
short, players accomplish this simply by releasing the ball, which automatically
rolls toward the level switch.
If that sounds a bit easy, that’s because you
haven’t considered all the things the game will do to ensure the ball isn’t
successful. Those “things” include uneven surfaces (that cause the ball to slow
down and potentially roll backwards), separated platforms (that cause the ball
to fall through and get stuck), and numerous out-of-reach elements that make the
switch appear to be impossible to reach. Gravity then becomes a puzzle game by
challenging the player to come up with a way to work around those obstacles and
make it to the switch.
In every case, the solution involves the use of
some or all of the items (mostly blocks) provided in each stage. You grab them
by touching the center of the screen, which triggers the item window. Touch the
desired item within the window and drag it to the playing field. Drag it around
the screen, tilt it left or right with the D-pad, and lift your stylus when
you’re done.
Conceptually, it’s all pretty simple. And if you
don’t mind the repetition (Gravity doesn’t offer any variety; the levels are
clever but all of them revolve around the same concept), it can be a lot of fun.
You may never know that, however, if the
touch-screen issues surpass your desire to continue playing.
On paper, the touch mechanics work. The Nintendo
DS has been on the market since 2004, giving developers plenty of time to figure
out how to design games for it. So there’s no excuse for the mechanics not to
work as good within the game as they do on paper. But they don’t. Thirty to 40
percent of the time, the game doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do. That
percentage may actually be a conservative estimate, as the problems became so
frequent that I began to figure out some annoying workarounds.
Most damagingly, it is very difficult to avoid a
confrontation every time the item window is opened. If it’s open and you’ve
already touched an item inside of it, you might not be able to touch the items
already placed on the screen. You might also not be able to touch somewhere
outside the item window to make it disappear (which it is supposed to do).
In messing around with the game, I learned that
you can get the game to react properly by pressing the D-pad a little bit first,
which causes the camera to move around the screen when no items are selected.
Stop pressing the D-pad, tap an item once and it should be selectable.
While this might not sound like a huge issue, it
is enormously painful to have to do it every single time the item window has
been opened. This problem wasn’t consistent with every level, but there are
moments when you just won’t be able to escape it. Same goes for making the item
window disappear, or making it reappear when you want an item.
If players can get past that frustration, they
may feel like they’ve hit a wall when the effects of gravity are revealed. From
the beginning of the game, you’ll know that the ball is going to move in a
realistic manner, as are the blocks that are hit in the process. That’s awesome.
You know what isn’t awesome? Stacking a bunch of blocks that fall over because
you accidentally bumped one of them with the stylus. That downright sucks. And
unlike the Wii version (and the claim in the instruction booklet), you can’t
undo or redo several moves – only one at a time. If you could, it would have
cushioned the patience-killing impact, possibly enough to make this a tolerable
problem. As it stands, you won’t be tolerant.
No doubt, this puts Gravity fans (or potential
fans) in an unfavorable position. If you don’t have a Wii, this is your only
non-PC option. Although it’s the cheaper version of the game, it is not the one
to buy. Those who can tolerate Gravity’s non-technical quirks (present in both
versions) would be wise to play the game on Wii. But leave the DS edition on the
store shelf, regardless of your love for or interest in puzzle games.
Review Scoring Details for Gravity |
Gameplay: 6.4
The simple gameplay might remind you of Line Rider. The repetitive elements
and touch screen flaws might also remind you of that game.
Graphics: 3.0
Less advanced than a free Flash game.
Sound: 6.0
Vastly superior to the graphics, the music is almost catchy. There aren’t
many songs (you’ll hear the same tunes over and over), so plan for that before
you crank the speakers at the start of every stage.
Difficulty: Medium
The stage mixture is good for players of many different skill levels. Hints
are offered in a cost-based system (you must buy them, and funds are very
limited), which seems awful at first. But if you buy them sparingly, you will
likely be good enough to play through most of the puzzles on your own by the
time your money’s gone.
Concept: 6.0
The puzzles may be interesting but the rest of the game is very flawed.
Overall: 6.4
Gravity is a decent puzzle game that is in many ways equal to the Wii
version. Though the touch screen is superior to the Wii remote in the area of
item placement, item acquisition (when you grab the item from the item window)
and retrieval (when you pick up an item that has already been placed) are a
glitchy mess on the DS, making this an inferior version.
