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REVIEW: UNRAVEL (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

15/2/2016

2 Comments

 
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If you were shrunk down to a couple of inches tall, what would you do?

Well now... the first thing you'd probably do is go blind and deaf, due to the way light and sound would fail to work with your miniaturised eyes and ears.

​Also, your voice would be barely audible to anyone of normal size, so you wouldn't even be able to ask for help.

After about a minute of stumbling around in a dazed, deaf, blind, stupor, squeaking like D.Beckham at a helium party, you'd suffocate because your lungs wouldn't be able to absorb oxygen. Doesn't sound like much fun does it? And yet Electronic Arts - the sickos - have gone and made a game in which you control a tiny, little man.

But wait... he's made out of yarn!

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OLD SCHOOL
​Very much an old-school puzzle-platformer, Unravel takes its cue from the best of those side-on games, in that its protagonist has a unique range of abilities built around one central conceit.

​You see, being made of yarn, Yarny - for that is his name - trails a line of wool behind him like he's a sort of woollen foetus. Neatly, his umbilical cord can be used as a grappling hook, or to construct rope swings or trampolines.

Yes, that's right, father: now would be a good time to make a joke about him being a "woolly jumper". Also, given that Yarny is using up parts of himself to progress, you'll occasionally need to replenish his supply of yarn.

It's all very physics-based, if you ignore the improbable little red man; rolling apples, or riding downhill atop tricycles, or swinging across chasms, or filling up pits with water. For the most part it's a simple joy to play, and you'll probably whizz through it in a couple of hours. However, on occasion you'll be smacked across the woolballs with an unforeseen death, or be left stranded, unsure where to head next (or - worse - out of wool, and stuck in place due to the lack of slack on your woollen umbilical).

In many respects, it felt like a cross between Cool Spot - remember that? - and Little Big Planet. There's not a whole lot going on that's original... except for Unravel's probably beautiful presentation.

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OLD LADY PARTS
​Unravel adopts a poetic, naturalistic style - all sun dappled real-world locations, or dusty attics. 

Yarny is expressive and likeable, and he's the perfect guide through a game that is, at times, achingly wistful.

It's effectively a journey through the memories of Yarny's ageing 'mother', and talks of how love connects us like yarn.

As metaphors go, it's as subtle as being run over by a metaphor delivery van, and the game didn't need it - but it does add a sweetness, and another layer, to what would've otherwise been a relatively bog-standard platform game. In conclusion: nice!

SUMMARY: A simple puzzle-platformer elevated by a sweet emotional message, and beautiful visuals.
SCORE: 72 yarn balls out of 99.9 yarn balls

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
REVIEW: FIREWATCH (PC, PS4, MAC)
​
REVIEW: THE BUG BUTCHER (PC/MAC)

REVIEW: PONY ISLAND (PC/MAC)
2 Comments
Damon link
17/2/2016 06:37:55 am

I was figuring out what percent you gave it - about 71.9%, I think - and I reminded me of my favorite review system for games-- cheese.

A site which sadly is no longer around scored games with arbitrary amounts of cheese. There was no maximum number of wheels though each wheel was divided into six pieces. Naturally this meant it was not possible to compare scores in any meaningful way, which of course was exactly the point.

It did not reflect how 'good' the game was since all in all that was too arbitrary it reflected how cheesey the the game was in terms of cliches, or morals OR how cheesed off the reviewer felt. Return to Zork got a high score because some of the puzzles were so esoteric-- or "moon-logic-ey" if we want to just start inventing words on the fly-- and that in place of a review he gave a guide with snarky comments along the way.

Sometimes a whole review would be along the lines of "I'm giving this a score of four and three-sixths so I can stop playing and no one will complain about the score, even though it's tedious to play apparently there's people who like this."

In turn that heavily influenced my attempt at writing about games which ended shortly as I was tasked with a dreadful flash-based physics puzzler back when they were popular-- It's a shame we can't harness them for energy and replace coal, by my estimate there's still a ton left-- and I simply put "2 of 10. Would have done better to sell the 1s and 0s wholesale than arrange them into this loosely interactive Macromedia flash work. Best played on mute with the monitor off." Naturally the person vetting the reviews was not pleased, did not find it funny and told me I could edit or get lost.

I got lost.

Reply
Mr Biffo
17/2/2016 12:34:01 pm

Thank... you?

Reply



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