Mysterious Prototype Countdown

A countdown on the prototype website has appeared. What could this mean, a new trailer, a demo maybe? The only way to find out is to wait another 17 and a half days.

Yay!

Braid Review (XBLA)

I finished playing Braid recently (yeah I know I'm late) and decided to post a short review on the game.

Braid is an XBLA game from developer Number None. In a way Braid is a tribute to Mario with it’s giant fly-eating plants and little enemies who look an awful like Goombas. Braid also pokes light-hearted fun at the Italian plumber with the “Princess is in another castle” quotes at the end of each world. However, one thing that makes Braid spectacularly different from Mario is that it makes you think deeply about its story.

Gameplay.

The gameplay in Braid combines platforming, completing puzzles as you discover pieces of a jigsaw and time-travelling. You could completely ignore the jigsaw pieces and rush through the first five worlds but then you’d miss out on the last world and most of the plot to the game. Also, for you achievement whores, you wouldn’t get half of the gamerscore you would if you took the time to figure out the puzzles. Some of which can take a while to figure out and it leaves you wanting to smash the controller over your head, Braid can get annoying but never seems to get boring. As you advance through the game the challenges gradually get harder. Tim’s powers change in each world as well and in one world if you travel left time is reversed, if you travel right time moves normally. These changes throughout the game make each world fresh and fun and make you want to play on.

Story.

I could never have imagined an XBLA game could have such a deep story as Braid does. The story has been argued about over the internet for a while now as it never fully explains itself but leaves the player to make up for themselves what it’s all about. Without spoiling the game too much all I’ll say is that it’s about making mistakes and how you should be able to learn from them, not be punished.

Graphics and sound.

Braid’s artistic design is truly amazing, some of the backgrounds are reminiscent of Van Gogh’s work. The game feels like you’re playing in a painting and the enemies and environments have a great amount of detail. The music fits the game nicely but can seem a bit odd in some situations.

Lasting Appeal

You could rush through Braid pretty quickly but if you take the time to collect all of the puzzle pieces it could take hours. There is also 8 secret stars which will add literally hours onto the game (one of the stars takes over 2 hours to obtain). Once you throw time trials into the you have a lot of gameplay for an Arcade game. If you’re a perfectionist you could play Braid for hours, if you wanted to find walkthroughs and rush through the game then it could take you hardly any time at all. It really comes down to how much time you want to spend on the game.

Overall score

9.5/10

Braid is one of the finest XBLA games and sets an example of how games coming out in the market place should be made.

Welcome to my blog!

This blog is (as the description says) for gaming news reviews and more. I'll be posting videos of games that I play and will be supplying the latest gaming news. I have a youtube account which is where I'll be hosting most of my videos; which is here.