Hello readership!
I met my first parking guard when I moved to Montreal from my snow white northern town seven years ago. I was unfamiliar with the concept of hiring someone to protect your parking from getting vandalized. The guard in question looked like he haven`t bathed in days, he had teenage beard, Russian track pants and a huge tractor chain rolled around his knuckles. I understood right away that parking guards didn`t receive any check by the mail for their work.
That`s this kind of deranged psychotic manliness that oozes from Braid, finally coming to the Playstation Network after being such a hit on the XBOX Live Arcade. I was very intrigued by seeing this 2D ugly platformer getting some godly praises with the reviews all around. Knowing not much about the game, I put my PSN pants on a took my love for platforming to give Braid a look.
STORYTELLING
The story is as thin as it gets, Tim is a dude (for a lack of a better term) who dated a princess (which as no name) from a kingdom (which you know nothing about) and well...things got sour, shit hit the fan, however you want to put it, the princess left you to yourself and your wang. The braid is the last memory Tim has from the princess and the game is his effort to put his memories together and figure out what happened.
The story feels right, it's not the main thing Braid offers, but it's at the right place. One thing I have to say against it beside the fact that it`s thin, is that there is not much incentive to find out what happened. You can get all the written story (did I mentioned it was a bit heavy to read all of this?) at the start and you have to beat the goddamn game to get to know what happened. All in all, it's an OK story, but the game would`ve been as enjoyable, maybe even less frustrating without it. If you get a story to a game, make it count.
NOTE:15/25
GAMEPLAY
What about the much vaunted gameplay of Braid? Well it`s fun...and hard...and inconsistent. There is six levels, which, all-in-all contain around forty worlds, in which you`ll have to solve in game puzzles to get puzzle pieces and get your memories together. The twist to it is, Tim has the ability to turn back time so when you die, you can rewind and do it again until you get it right.
The fun about that game is that it`s based around time. The answer to each and every puzzle lies in turning time backwards. At first, it`s enthralling. The approach is very intuitive and it feels very rewarding to find the answer. But it gets really hard..and frustrating...really fast. For the first levels I thought I had found a soul swallower, I played my first hour and a half of the game completely absorbed to the task...but when I put my first puzzle together and solved a world I realized...nothing...no reward...just a PSN Trophy. I`m a trophy-whore, but I don`t know...I like when the damn game gives me something. The concept is amazing, but it`s pretty narrow for a fifteen dollars title.
NOTE:20/25
PRESENTATION
Was I the only one that thought it was a little pretentious? I mean, there is not much substance to it. It`s like playing an artsy-fartsy version of Mario. Jonathan Blow the game designer behind Braid was like: ¨Ok, I have a good concept, so fuck the story and fuck the graphics¨. He was right in a sense, because the game sold extremely well. I have to say though that it`s not quite worth fifteen bucks. Ten, maybe, but not fifteen.
All right, I'll admit it, it's pretty and artistically clever, but it feels a little cold and intellectual. I was not struck by the graphics or by the value of what I was sold. It's OK in a retro way, but if you want a good looking 2D platformer go play Bionic Commando:Rearmed.
NOTE:18/25
AWESOMENESS
I'm torn. There is a lot in that game that appeals to the kid in me, but there is a lot that rebukes that kid too. Having to use my head to rewind time and to think my moves over felt really really rewarding, but it was like being in a broken rollercoaster...it stops and goes and stops and goes. There is no feeling of flow, no learning curve. Basically we're sold a concept and the genius of Jonathan Blow. We're not really sold the game.
I wasn't very attached to Tim as a hero, but I wanted to know what happened with the damn princess. The difficulty level of the game knocked me out at the last level though. Maybe i'll pick it up again, but it doesn`t feel good or rewarding. You cannot make a game with only one concept. A thourough game designe is important
NOTE:16/25
ACES
-The time manipulation is ground breaking.
-The construction of the world is fun to navigate.
-Tim is a good looking fellow.
FAILS
-Story feels useless
-It's HAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRDDDD
-No player reward throughout the whole game
This review might seem severe, but Braid was to revered everywhere I went that I couldn`t help but feeling a bit flunked by what I got. There is a lot of pretty things in that game, but the substance falls short. Not worth fifteen bucks. Wait for a sale.
NOTE:69%
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