When I was asked to review Spheroids, I was quite happy to take on the task. I quite like platformers, and Spheroids is another one that is added to the Platformer genre that many ID developers have decided to join. Eclipse Games are the latest developers to add to the genre, and bring us Spheroids. Is it a game that`s a good addition to the genre? Or it a flop? Well I certainly wouldn’t have an argument for the last point. It`s very much a good addition to the genre.
Spheroids is developed and published by Eclipse Games, and was released for the Xbox One a few weeks ago. It tells the story of Lucas, a young kid who is tasked with helping is friend who is a scientist. Spheroids, alien-like creatures then invade the world and try to take over. Taking place over a range of cut-scenes and settings, you`re going to be playing through quite a simple but good story about Lucas`s fight against the spheroids.
Now, from the off, it`s not a game that`s going to be exceptionally challenging. It isn’t a puzzler. There isn’t many puzzles in this you need to do, or work out. It`s quite simply a point to point game. Get to the end of the level, without being killed by a Spheroid. That`s all there is too it. And across 8 countries, all of which have around 4 levels in each one, you`ll be doing that every single time. Of course, in between each level you`re treated to a cut-scene, which will help tell out the story. They`re not too long either so they`re not going to take up lots of time. The Spheroids are not as simple as they seem either. They are replicas of round balls, that have a face on and will bounce up and down and move around as you shoot them. They`ll either die and disappear (which right at the start of the game at the basic levels you`ll get) or multiply into smaller spheroids (as the game goes on, they get bigger and will replicate into another ball) and you`re going to need to have your impulse trigger ready. Especially at certain points in the game, when the Spheroids don’t seem to stop. You need to also make sure that you avoid them, as they`ll take lower your health. You have 4 health kits (That`s not the right word for them, but I can`t think of them off the top of my head so that`s what I`ll call them) and every time you are hit by a Spheroid, you`ll lose one. Losing all 4 will mean the end, and you`ll be taken back to a check-point (Going past a checkpoint will also refresh your health). You can however upgrade skills at the start of each level, and you can extend these, along with a range of other options. The game is good and generous though with it`s checkpoint as they appear regularly, and killing an enemy, will keep it dead, especially if you then die. It means that you don’t have to go through the same part again and worry about coming up against the same enemies.
But it`s not all about simply getting to point A to B. I said it`s not a game that`s going to be puzzling (and it`s not at all) but there are parts of the game where you`ll need to either jump, swing or find another way to get to where you need to go. It`s not always as simple as it is in other parts of the game. But there is a range of different mechanics within the game that are different, and most notably, being able to use a hook and swing your way across to the other side, is different than being able to just run and jump your way to the end. It`s not a game that`s going to be overly challenging though. In terms of its gameplay and it`s controls, it`s not something that`s going to be something that`ll frustrate you. It`s a rather easy game to pick up for a platformer.
Eclipse have taken the same approach that we`re seeing lots of ID developers do now with their games, and that`s give the game a retro feel and approach. The 8 and 16-bit graphics are apparent, and again it`s another throwback to the older fans and generation who remember the game graphics of the days of the Atari and SNES. I for one quite like it, as it`s something completely different to the sort of graphics we see today, and it truly is a nice throwback.
Spheroids is a game that really is quite a nice little addition to the ID games and platformer genre. It`s not an awfully long game (Can probably be completed in 5 hours) but is a good little pick up and play game and isn’t something that`s going to ask a lot in terms of learning the controls. Eclipse have done a great job with Spheroids, and they can be proud of their game. So I asked the question at the start, was it a good addition to the platformer genre? The answer is certainly yes.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a review copy of Spheroids
Game: Spheroids
Genre: Platformer
Developers: Eclipse Games SC
Publishers: Eclipse Games SC
Price: £6.69 (From Xbox Store)