Eckyman.com

The first I saw of VVVVVV was at the Eurogamer expo in Leeds last year. I only got to spend 5 minutes or so on the game before going to a talk, but the little time I had with this gravity-flipping, frustrating experience was enough to hook me on the concept.

Harking back to the glory days of my childhood, VVVVVV immediately reminds me of classic C64 games like Monty On The Run, and the Dizzy franchise. Back when difficult damn well meant difficult.

You will die playing VVVVVV, a lot.

But unlike the frustrating, 3 lives/no continues gameplay of the old C64 titles, VVVVVV instead opts for the Trials HD formula and succeeds in bringing a familiar sense of gameplay. Checkpoints come fast and furious meaning you are never more than a few steps away from your last failure, and continues are infinite. Death is merely a minor setback, a footnote of anti-achievement upon completion of the game, an incentive for replay and continuing honing of your gravity-flipping skills. This, coupled with the fact most puzzles tease you with the sight of your next checkpoint, keeps you coming back for more punishment. “Just one more try!” gaming at its best.

On my first completion my time stacked up at just over two hours, with slightly over 1 thousand deaths. I think “Doing Things The Hard Way” claimed at least a third of those deaths with over 300 on that single puzzle. A frustrating dive of death through a spiky hell is the best description of my time with this room. Needless to say, I moved on before crushing a section of my keyboard in frustration, but it’s a good frustration. I know I’ll go back and nail that room, and right there is one major reason I enjoy this game so much. From the look of the map, I still have some exploring to do and lots of trinkets to collect, never mind bringing that death count down to a more respectable number

VVVVVV is classic gaming done in a modern way, very fun, very challenging… and at £8 you simply cannot go wrong. Lots of replay value, and a great soundtrack, I highly recommend you try the demo and see for yourself.

Terry Cavanagh has a post up on his site Distractionware, talking about how his game VVVVVV, has been leaked on 4chan by someone who donated for beta access.

Firstly, I just want to say this is not some deep pocketed company like EA you are ripping off (not that ripping off EA is any better morally), it’s an independent developer.

Secondly, for the low donation he was asking for (to help fund the projects entry to IGF) you could have played the Beta to your hearts content and helped a small developer at the same time.

Anyone in the comments section claiming they wouldn’t have donated in ‘good faith’ for a game they have never played, you could have tried out any of his previous games to get a feel for the quality. You could have read the impressions posted about the game, or checked out a gameplay video, or looked through the screenshots available.

Your excuses are your own.

distractionware » Final Push.