Between the lopsided "I" and "Y"
letters in the logo for Gravity, a different kind of puzzle game for Wii and DS,
is a small red ball. While seemingly insignificant – how often do logos really
convey that much about a game? – the ball reveals more about the gameplay than
the 3D blocks thrown all over the box.
You see, if the logo were one of the
puzzles within the game, you’d be stuck right now. The goal is definitely one
we’ve heard before: get from point A to point B. In this case, "A" is the
beginning of the level (a small hole where the ball drops from), and "B" is the
switch you must hit at the end. If your ball were to, say, get stuck between two
letters, it wouldn’t be able to reach its final destination.
And that’s where Gravity begins its
journey of fun, frustration and repetition.
Using the Wii remote and Nunchuk (or
just the Wii remote), players command the all-mighty cursor. By pointing the
remote at the screen, you’ll be able to grab blocks and other oddly shaped items
for the purpose of helping the ball reach the latest switch. Each level has one
switch, as well as a unique set of blocks that may or may not relate to the
puzzle’s solution. Your job is to figure out which blocks are necessary and how
to implement them properly.
When ready, tap the B button to
release the ball; tap it again to bring the game back to its current state,
saving your last block settings. This is a critical element – without being able
to backtrack, you’d have to replace your blocks every time you wanted to test a
puzzle solution. If the ball gets stuck, it’s back to the drawing board. If it
makes it all the way to the switch, you’re in the clear…until the next stage
begins.
Considering that the game’s title is
Gravity, few will have to spend much time thinking about what this must entail.
If an object isn’t nailed to the ground or suspended in air by some unknown
force, there’s no assuming it might move – it most certainly will move, and not
always in the most predictable manner.
To the game’s credit, you’ll learn a
few things about the way gravity works. For example, if two rectangular blocks
are stacked on top of each other vertically, you might not realize which way the
top block will fall if the bottom block is hit. If the incoming ball is moving
from left to right (so it hits the left side of the block), it’ll push the
bottom block forward. Its top half will tilt downward. This causes the top block
to wobble and fall left, or backward. While simple in theory, the developers
created many puzzles around this very execution, knowing that the player might
not realize what impact gravity will have on a particular set of blocks. Like
any game, you’ll quickly get into this mode of thinking you know how to solve
each puzzle. But then, like an anvil dropped on unsuspecting cartoon characters,
Gravity introduces a puzzle that appears to completely defy its own puzzling
logic – and everything we know about gravity.
As it turns out, your ball isn’t the
only thing you’ll use to hit a switch. If a switch is completely out of reach,
regardless of what you do with the blocks provided, chances are another ball
(provided in certain stages) or an actual block may be needed to hit the switch.
In short, this is a case of ball and block teamwork – place each item in key
areas within each stage, release the main ball, and hope that ball pushes or
bounces the rest of the items toward the switch.
It’s all pretty cool. But underneath
the amusement is a game system that is flawed by its own fundamentals: the
virtual stress of gravity elements that try to mirror the real thing and the
physical strain of having to hold the Wii remote as carefully and as precisely
as a child trying to balance a set of real blocks.
Imagine, for a moment, that you are
10 years old. You’re carefully placing and stacking a group of blocks together,
hoping to roll a ball across them when you’re finished. Then, with your wrists
tired from hours of block placement, you accidentally bump one of the blocks and
knock down the whole thing. A resilient and patient child (the kind who enjoys
building blocks that don’t interlock) may start over. Everyone else will be
insanely frustrated and ask themselves: is it worth it? Should I really start
over?
That’s the experience you’ll have
playing Gravity. In the Wii version, you can “undo” or “redo” five or six moves.
Blocks are held with the A button, moved with the Wii remote, and tilted with
the D-pad (or thumbstick if you have the Nunchuk attached). Though easy to
maneuver – especially when compared to the cumbersome DS version – it is also
very easy to accidentally bump the blocks you’re trying to stack. Just as a
child must physically pile on the blocks he wishes to stack, you must physically
do the same in this game. The only difference is that you’re stuck holding,
raising and moving a Wii remote, while the child has the luxury of lifting
blocks that are likely much lighter.
Both you and the child, however,
must suffer the consequence of trying to hold a ball in place that wants to roll
away. This is a big problem in the Wii version; not so much in the DS version,
whose touch screen allows you to place and release ball without the tiring job
of having to hold a remote in the air.
Anyone with patience of steel may
shrug this off as a minor nuisance. They might be less inclined, however, to
ignore the unavoidable repetition. Gravity is exactly as I’ve described: get the
ball from point A to point B. There are some great levels designed around this
philosophy, but that doesn’t make the concept any less repetitive. Inevitably,
you will be bored after a couple hours of non-stop playing, making this a game
that’s better served as a once- or twice-a-week experience.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The "point A to point B" gameplay is nothing new. But the levels designed
around it are fairly amusing.
Graphics: 3.0
Ball, blocks and several plain backgrounds.
Sound: 6.0
Not a bad mix of repetitive beats. But not a great mix either.
Difficulty: Medium
The puzzle difficulties are all over the place. Some of them seem so
obvious; others are really deceptive.
Concept: 6.5
The developers were clever in developing puzzles that appear to have no sane
solution. But the execution of the overall game is much less impressive.
Overall: 7.0
Gravity is a puzzle game for a very specific type of gamer, primarily one
that is tolerant of frustration and repetition.
