Written by: Alex

 

 

 

It is hard not to draw a genealogy when discussing "Gravity Crash", it clearly apes it ancestors' gameplay and style. The developers, Just Add Water, the developer have taken the classic 'Thrust' and given it the Pacman CE treatment.

 

Taking the originals clean lines and mechanics and adding an explosive neon coat of paint. It is a revitalisation that is well justified, as the original Thrust is a game that remains distinctive and entertaining, while being able to offer a twist on the twin-stick shooter genre that has been so popular on PSN and XBLA.

 

Gravity Crash relies on the pull of gravity and physics to supply much of its challenge. Your craft suffers the constant downwards pull of gravity, ensuring that there is no idle time in the game, as unless you are careful you ship will drop to the surface of the planet.

 

 

This especially a problem as contact with any surface or aggressor doesn’t simply deplete your health but instantly death unless you are quick to activate your shields (these can be set to automatic).

 

There is also the issue of your crafts pronounced inertial. Locking you course in a single direction will result in you slowly building up speed, however to slow this acceleration takes longer than in it’s other arcade brethren. Even turning you ship through one hundred and eighty degrees and thrusting in the opposite direction will only take the edge off your speed meaning that you have to plan you course carefully through the games craggy mountains and caverns making plotting your course carefully essential.

 

The constant pressure of enemy fire and gravity forever pulling you to your death makes water a welcome release. Every thing slows, limiting projectiles and speed of everything and allowing you time to think. As long as you can adjust to the fact the buoyancy of your ship forces you up, instead off pulling you down like normal gravity, you will quickly find water is the one place in the game that offers you time to relax.

 

Travelling between a selection of solar systems and their respective planets you are simply tasked with specific goals on each planet. Be it destroying targets, rescuing allies or tackling a boss on the last planet of a solar system, these simple goals are made challenging by the lethal maze of the environments you find yourself in. Enemies can often be avoided in favour of speed, but if you want to explore everywhere and collect every bonus item clearing areas of all obstacles is essential.

 

 

Killing everything is also recommended if you want to attempt a high score. This is perhaps a throw back to the games roots and was only something I become aware of each time I died and I was given the option of continuing or restarting at the cost of all my points. At first chose to restart wanting to prove myself, but it was a habit I quickly grew out of upon realising just how challenging the game became. Foregoing a high score in favour of progress was a sacrifice I became readily prepared to make, even after realising I couldn’t revisit levels to advance my score at a later date. While the score is not an explicit motivation, I am sure that for more competitive individuals it will prove a draw.