After getting my hands onSuper Paper Mario, I started seeing 2D platformers differently, in thathey, I wonder what’s behind that-there pile of blockssort of way. I imagine I’m not the only one. Now that gamers raised on X and Y only are the ones making games, it’s likely that we’ll see a lot of screwing with 2D vs 3D in games to come, andCrushis the latest in that progression.
You might remember mecrapping my pantsover the first videos ofCrushreleased about five months ago — I am pleased to report that the pants-crapping was merited, indeed. If you’ve been considering the purchase of a PSP and looking for that one game to knock you off the fence, this may very well be it.
Hit the jump for more.
Despite my best efforts (those efforts beingwishing really hard), the PSP doesn’t yet have the most compelling library — at least, not so much compared to its competitor, Nintendo’s immortal DS Lite. It’s difficult to explain why I love my PSP without saying anything that violates my warranty — in the entirety of my library, only four PSP games aren’t ports. This isn’t to say that the games thatareports are bad or anything — games likePower StoneandStreet Fighter Alpha 3fit quite well on my little misbegotten handheld. As for original killer apps, though, it’s a bit sparse. Things are changing, though — had I not been so foolhardy to buy a PSP at launch,Crushwould’ve been the game to get me on board.
Unlike many DS games and a handful of standout PSP titles (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Opsbeing one of them),Crushdoesn’t do anything that is particular to or representative of the platform it represents — indeed,Crushcould exist on any system, console or handheld alike.WhereCrushsucceeds, it does so due to its standout concept game play, art direction, and challenge. It’s a puzzler the likes of which I’ve never played before.
Crushis all about Danny, an insomniac who carries a heavy burden of memories from his past. His aversion to traditional medicine leads him to Dr. Reuben, a mad scientist with an invention that might help Danny: a hypnosis-inducing helmet called C.R.U.S.H. In this state, Danny is to get his mind straightened out by working his way through dimension-bending puzzles, which if you think about it, isjust likepsychiatry as we know it today. Story of any sort seems parenthetical to the experience as a whole — puzzlers rarely need ’em, after all — but it certainly adds to the game. Cutscenes are illustrated inCrush‘s distinctive art style and shuffle Danny’s saga along while the player negotiates the hazards of his cluttered mind.
In a lot of ways,Crushoperates like a traditional, severely limited platformer. Levels, 40 in all, take place in one of four “theme” tilesets like the inner city and the seaside, with appropriate music and atmosphere to complete the picture. These levels operate as platforms suspended in the air built out of sharp, angular blocks that create the landscape that Danny must negotiate to clear his head. Danny can walk, run, and jump short distances, but that won’t get him very far — to advance, the player must “crush” the level’s three dimensions, creating 2D from 3D. This part’s complicated, so I’m going to dedicate another paragraph to it. I’ll see you there.
Hi, glad you made it. Anyhow, movement of the camera — not a fluid, smooth movement, but a strict and segmented selection of camera angles — is paramount to the game flow ofCrush, as the camera’s angle on the action determines how the level will be “crushed”. So, here’s an example: let’s say you’re standing on a platform, and way in the distance — away from the camera’s perspective — is an item to be collected. The item sits atop a plot of ground that has no connecting bridges, no obvious means of approach, but itislevel with the platform you’re currently standing on. By crushing, the world is made 2D and the two platforms become the same straight line across the screen. By moving to the item’s location and uncrushing, Danny finds himself on the same distant platform — this is the heart ofCrush’sgameplay.
It sounds complicated, and it can be — at first. But after a few levels ofCrushhaving its way with your puny, puny mind, you’ll begin to see level structure in a whole different way. Through your time with the game you’ll be introduced to a series of new mechanics of gameplay, but they’re pretty quickly assimilated and and always (always) give crushing front seat in the flow of things. Gears can be operated when crushed into alignment, and massive, hulking bugs can be dealt with by crushing them against impassable blocks. Once you get the basic formula down, you’ll be good to go.
But I don’t mean for a moment to suggest thatCrushisn’t challenging. Some of the game’s later stages will have you pulling your hair out, but in that really good, “there’s no way I’m this stupid” sort of way. This sets it apart from many other puzzle and adventure games —Crushis never unfair, and it never pulls any dirty tricks on the player to artificially inflate difficulty or length of play. In the event that a puzzle proves simply too challenging to tackle on your own, a hint system — activated by a quick tap of the triangle button — will gently nudge you in the right direction, complete with a camera cue. It’s a guiding hand that will keep frustration to a minimum for most, and save your PSP from sudden and angry defenestration for others (me). The level designs, meanwhile, take full advantage of the gimmicks at work and are pretty damn brilliant at times.
The game is visually striking but suffers from a pretty common drop in frame-rate, and once you get accustomed to the general layout scheme, the ten levels within each of the four themes pretty much all feel like the same level, barring some pretty intense structural variety — the clock tower stage is one of the coolest level designs I’ve seen in recent years. I wonder, also, why this game necessarily had to appear on the PSP — again, I’m not at all opposed to the platform getting some truly A-list titles, but I get the sinking feeling that this game is going to be a sacrifice to the PSP’s somewhat niche audience instead of getting the attention it deserves. Also, a game as ambitious asCrushmight’ve been better realized on a platform capable of really doing the game justice. But then, I’m so enamored withCrushthat I want to see it on PS2, XBLA, PS3 — hell, put it on mobile phones, I don’t care. So long as everybody gets a chance to play it.
If you’ve got yourself a PSP, run (do not walk) to your nearest retailer of choice and pick up a copy. It’s rare that a game as ambitious asCrushachieves what it set out to do, and the developers at Zoë Mode ought to be showered in cash and virgins for pulling it off. Picking up whereSuper Paper Marioleft off,Crushprovides a stage upon which careful reexamination of the conventions of gaming is possible; it’s just about the most rewarding experience yet available on the PSP. Don’t miss it for nothin’.
