Gravity Crash: Review

It’s fair to say that Sony may not have gotten everything right this generation of console. However, one thing they have got right is there approach to community gaming. With there ‘Play, Create, Share’ attitude towards gaming they have already brought us the excellent LittleBigPlanet. And with Modnation Racers on its way, they are leading the way in user created content.

One title that also embraces that philosophy and one that you may have missed is Gravity Crash. Developed by the UK based Just Add Water, the game not only provides you with an intense single player campaign, it also allows you to create your own levels and share them with the Playstation community

The game itself harks back to the days when games were made in dark bedrooms, a duel-stick shooter which pays homage to games like Defender & Robotron: 2084. With its stylish retro graphics, and music straight out of the 80’s, you would be forgiven if you thought you had just driven back in time in a DeLorean!

The idea is that you guide your little spaceship through various levels trying to complete certain tasks. The tasks are normally quite simple and involve destroying a certain amount of targets in order to proceed. However there are both stationery & moving enemies out to get you, which makes things more complicated. You also need to keep an eye on your shield and fuel levels, making sure that you keep them topped up with the power crystals dotted about each level. There are also gems to collect, which although not required to complete the level, will increase your score. And just to make things really difficult, every so often there will be survivors to save. This requires you to land on the rocks that you are normally trying to avoid!

Now, I know what you are thinking, ‘Not another duel-stick shooter’. To be fair, there does seem to be a lot of them about on the PSN & XBLA. From the fantastic Pixeljunk Shooter to the awful Rocketman: Axis of Evil, it seems a month doesn’t go by without one being squeezed out! Luckily Gravity Crash has enough quality to stand out from the crowd. Unlike most duel-stick shooters, GC doesn’t really rely on twitch gameplay. Instead it’s more about learning to control and manoeuvre your spaceship. This is vitally important if you are going to make through this game. It isn’t just a case of move the left stick in a direction and away the ship goes, gravity plays a part in how your ship controls, and there are varying levels of gravity. So in one level the ship flies pretty much straight and true, but in another the gravity is constantly dragging your ship down. This gives the game a little more depth than most, and is also the source of its only real frustration, but only because you know that the reason why you just crashed your ship was because you just weren’t good enough. It does have the odd niggle in the fact that some of the smaller enemies need pixel perfect accuracy to shoot, which when trying to keep your ship away from the rocks can be a bit difficult. The game also has a local multiplayer mode, that while offers some frantic action, isn’t something that I found myself coming back to.

Then there is the level creator, which at first seemed a bit daunting. However, after a little playing around became quite straight forward. It allows you to create your own levels, using a variety of tools. All of the gems, structures and enemies are available to you. You can even set up event triggers. You can then give your level a test run, and when happy with it, upload it. These can then be played by other people, who can then rate your level.

All in all Gravity Crash is a fine addition to the dual-stick shooter genre, using clever game mechanics to rise above some of the other titles in the genre. It may have a minor issue or two, but it doesn’t stop it from standing side by side with PixelJunk Shooter & Super Stardust HD as one of the great shooters on the PSN. It gives you a sense of old school in both design and gameplay, while still feeling fresh and crisp. Gravity Crash has a well thought out single player campaign, which provides plenty of challenge and value for money. Fun and frustrating in equal measure, it will keep you coming back for more!