PS3, Reviews

Review: Sideway

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The only on PSN campaign rages on with our next review of SidewaySideway is more or less your typical 2D platformer much like a Super Mario Brothers but this game has a twist.  That twist is the fact that the game is a 2D platformer in a 3D planescape.  Your character is completely flat but as you cross from one axis to another the gravity shifts and you wrap around the edge and start interacting with the new environment.  It sounds a bit confusing but it’s a simple concept and it adds a whole new layer of depth to the gameplay that makes this a very interesting game.

In Sideway you play as Nox, a New York City graphiti artist out causing havoc as it seems he usually does.  While on his tagging bender he tags over an existing tag by another artist named Spray.  However, Spray is not just any old artist but a supernatural force.  Upset by what Nox did to his tag, he pulls Nox into his two dimensional world and exposes Nox to his ultimate plan.  That plan is to take over Nox’s three dimensional world.  Nox wouldn’t be much of a hero if he let this go on and he takes up the quest to stop Spray from taking over the world and finding a way back to his home.

There isn’t much to the story as far as depth is concerned.  This isn’t going to grip you and keep you on the edge of your seat but luckily this isn’t why you are playing this game.  You want to play this game because it is a great platformer, so let’s get into that.  This game controls like a dream.  The platforming is fun and interesting and Nox moves around his foreign environment with ease.  Nox has some float to his jump and you can steer his jump mid-air which gives you a great amount of control over your character.  Hitting jumps is easy and accurate and this title’s controls are just as good as any platformer you’ve come across.

There is more than just jumping and running around the level.  There are lots of collectibles for you to collect scattered throughout the number of levels this game is packaged with.   All in all there are about 12 stages with both common collectibles and upgrades found throughout the level.  Some are hidden in plain sight but many are hidden away in the corners and facets of the levels themselves.  Of course, there are trophies associated with collecting everything there is to collect so trophy hunters will have their hands full with this one.  There is no direct benefit to collecting all the collectibles so if you aren’t into scouring the game for trinkets, you don’t have to.  For those interested in that kind of thing, there is plenty of replay value for you here.  All the levels are replayable on their own and it lets you know exactly how many you are missing at any point so though some of the collectibles may be difficult to find, there is lots of support.

If the gameplay and the collectibles didn’t sell you than the art style has a good chance of doing it for you.  The game features lots of graffiti style art that moves fluently as you move across the level.  The graphics look clean and crisp and look great on the Playstation 3.  When you take into consideration the soundtrack the game is an audio visual gem.  The soundtrack itself was mixed by Skull Candy artist Mr. Lif.  All the tracks are hip-hop influenced tracks so if you don’t like hip-hop you wont like anything about this soundtrack.  Whether you love it or hate it you can’t deny that the soundtrack fits this game like a glove.  The only issue I saw with the soundtrack is that the music loops continuously.  If you tend to look around for all those collectibles or have some trouble navigating the level, you will hear the same song several times in a row.  Most tracks sound great but after five or more times in a row it gets a little old.  Despite the fact that the soundtrack loops it doesn’t diminish the quality of the soundtrack or take away from the game.  Running, jumping and cascading across the streets of 2D New York City never looked or sounded so good.

Sideway is the platformer that you have been waiting for.  When a game comes along and has above average gameplay, it’s worth a purchase right there.  But when the game has elements that make collecting easy, excellent artistic sytle and an awesome soundtrack you have a game that is a must buy.  Unfortunately Xbox owners will not be able to download this since its a PSN only title but if you have a Playstation there is no reason why you shouldn’t give this title a look.  I highly recommend this title for platformer fans everywhere especially if you’ve been craving something a little left of center of the normal platforming game.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 


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