November
2, 2005
Polarium
is a good example of a game system's first generation of software.
Here is a title that takes advantage of the Nintendo DS' touch screen
(indeed, builds the whole game around it), but the whole experience
remains sloppy and unfocused. The crusher is that this could have
been an excellent little puzzler if the playtesters had bothered
to show up.
The
game is based around the idea of flipping squares - white to black,
black to white - with the DS stylus. Horizontal lines of the same
color are removed from the playfield and score points. Polarium
offers two different game modes: a standard, Tetris-style arcade
puzzler where groups of blocks drop down from above, and a challenge
mode, where the player must solve 100 puzzles by removing all the
blocks with one pen stroke.
Of
these two modes, challenge is the better by far. Perhaps because
there is no pressure to clear the playfield in a set time, it fosters
a real sit-and-think approach. And the movement of the stylus is
fairly smooth enough to allow you to doodle your way to a solution.
The difficulty of these puzzles range from embarassingly easy to
bafflingly hard. There are 100 puzzles to solve, and I suspect you
have to be a bit of a sadist to actually work your way through all
of them.
Perhaps
this is the fatal flaw of the black/white design. There are so many
patterns you can create before the puzzles become too difficult
and abstract. The word "gimmick" comes to mind; but, then
again, I'm reminded that puzzle games are very often difficult games.
The great Chip's Challenge is a perfect example, as is the landmark
Sokouban series (a puzzler whose influence is so far-reaching that
nearly every modern game involves a crate-moving scene at some point).
No,
of Polarium's two game modes, challenge gets a pass from me. A Gameboy
Advance version will soon be arriving, and you may feel inclined
to wait for that version.
Polarium's
real crime comes from the arcade puzzler mode. I'm not sure if this
mode was always part of the design, or if it was merely hobbled
together at the last second. Clearly, what we see here is a breakdown
in basic game design and play testing. The Bride of Zoo
Keeper Quest Mode! In 3-D!
Here's
the problem. When you want to flip a series of blocks, you simply
draw a line with your stylus. But in order to finish the line and
switch those blocks over, you need to tap the final block again.
Then, as the white blocks switch over to black, or vice versa, you
must wait for the animation to complete before you can begin another
line.
In
the casual challenge mode, this isn't an issue, because you're only
making one movement. But you can imagine how many problems this
presents for an arcade mode, when blocks relentlessly move downward
from the top of the screen. Why, praytell, am I being handcuffed?
This isn't some lowly computer that can barely draw the graphics.
Notice
that blocks don't fall down randomly, or one at a time. They fall
down in set patterns, usually three rows at a time. I think the
idea is that you're supposed to eliminate each series of blocks
before the next stack falls down. This has two main problems: first,
the game devolves into a simple series of patterns to memorize,
and two, if you ever fall behind, you're screwed. It's fiendishly
difficult to catch up before the playfield fills up with blocks.
The
great strength of Tetris, and all the best videogames, is its improvisational
feel. You're not being forced to play the way the designers want
you to. Polarium's designers are more interested in forcing your
hand. What good is this? You can just imagine how this game should
properly play, allowing you to tap and draw blocks at your own pace,
finding brilliant solutions to impossible situations, clearing the
screen of blocks at the last possible moment.
None
of that happens in puzzle mode. Instead, you're forced to click
around and wait for the damn animations to finish so you can play
again. Not that the game will bother to wait for you. Oh, no.
Can
somebody tell the Quality Control department to step away from the
foosball table and do their damned jobs? Is that too much to ask
for? This for a game that retailed for $40 new? You've got to be
kidding me. |
