Nihilumbra

Nihilumbra

Developers: Beautifun Games SL

iTunes Rating: 5 Stars (14 ratings as of 19 July 2012)

Game Center?: No

Version Details: 1.1 (released 28 June 2012)

Age Rating: 9+

Price: £1.99

Nihilumbra is just... Wow. This game is so amazing and it has hardly any ratings but they’re all 5 stars (a few are 4 stars but only about 2 or 3). I think this may be due to the fact that it looks a little bit like a stigmatic and oh-so-hated “Art” game. However, Nihilumbra is a side scrolling puzzle platformer with some truly original game mechanics and an engaging story that will keep you hooked.

Gameplay

The game starts with a small blob in this place called “the void” a desolate place of nothingness that has somehow spawned a conscious being. You travel through this area that teaches you the movement and jumping mechanics and eventually escape into the real world.

Here you find yourself in a truly beautifully designed landscape, a snow-capped mountain path in the middle of a blizzard. As you travel along this path you come across a scarecrow and change your shape so you look more human. This is where the real game starts, you follow the path until you reach a place you can’t go and are forced to follow another path. Here you find a glowing flower and discover something amazing. Colour. This is what the game is all about, you travel from a place of nothingness and find all these colours and beautiful landscapes and you don’t want to leave them, you want to discover more. However the void wants to be complete and is after you.

The colours serve another purpose though; you paint the surfaces to give them new physical properties. Each colour does something to the surfaces that you will have to use as you progress through the different landscapes and find new colours to add to your palette.

The narrative of the game is amazing; it really sets the tone and the feeling of the game. Sometimes it echoes your feelings in an eerie way, but at others it tell you what your character is feeling at this point, it tries (and ultimately succeeds in my opinion) to put you right in the shoes of the character. The story is really gripping and interesting and I really want to see what happens at the end, especially as in the description on iTunes it says: Unlock a great surprise by completing the game, replayability assured.

Addictivity - 10/10

The game is fun and the story is interesting, the game mechanics are good and there are multiple ways to solve each puzzle, some easier than others. I’m currently in world 3 of 5 and I’m about half way through the game as a whole. It really is amazing and well worth the higher than normal price tag.

Controls - 10/10

The game has two control methods, on screen buttons or tilting the device. I haven’t tried out the tilting because I’m more of a fan of buttons but the buttons are well designed. They’re not big enough to overtake most of the screen space, but they’re not so small that you can’t hit them accurately. The buttons are used to move your character left and right and there’s a small button on the right that you use to jump.

Using the colours is a bit more complex. First you have to choose your colour; this is done by a small menu at the top right corner of the screen. An orb shows you the currently selected colour and tapping this opens up a treelike menu where you choose another. Once you have your colour you can simply paint over any surface and it coats it in that colour. It’s that simple.

Menus - 10/10

The menus are simple to understand. There’s an options menu where you can choose from multiple languages (this changes the onscreen narrative) set the BGM and SFX volume levels and also choose which control setup you want to use (you can also do this at the start of a new game, it asks). There is also a feedback button where you can choose to leave a rating or pass the game around on FaceBook and Twitter.

Also on the main screen there is a profile selector, you can have up to 3 profiles, or save files, on the game and you can choose here which you want to play. Tapping “play” will take you to the void if you’re playing a new game (this is a tutorial area that you can’t play again if loading) if you’re loading it will take you to the level select screen. Here you can choose what area you want to play in and can also choose what checkpoint you want to play from.

Sound - 10/10

The sound in this game is beautiful, the background music to the menus is amazing and each level has its own score which fits in perfectly with the landscape and adds to the atmosphere. If you’re going to play this game I strongly recommend you play this with the sound on, it really adds to the game immensely.

Graphics - 10/10

The graphics, like the sound, are absolutely beautiful! The levels are all amazingly well designed and recurring aspects of the game, such as the magical area you go to when you discover a new colour, are just as beautifully done. As I said, I’m only on the third area and still have another 2 to go, I’m really looking forward to seeing what they are, and also what colours I’ll be unlocking.

Difficulty - 10/10

The game is balanced perfectly well, adding new colours adds new challenges to the game but you also have to use everything you have learnt as you progress. The colours don’t have one single use, you can use each of them in multiple ways (apart from green that seems to only have one use) and you can combine the use of colours to get the desired effect. For example pushing a large block is only possible if you use blue to ice the floor up and then you could make it stick part way down a wall, after you push it off the edge, using brown.

The hardest bits of each level are at the end where you have to outrun the void, dodging obstacles and using what you have learnt throughout the level to progress. Unless you’re very quick thinking and can react well then you’ll have to attempt these levels multiple times.

Learning Curve - 10/10

The game is incredibly easy to pick up; each new element is introduced well. When you gain a new colour you travel to a small tutorial area where it gives you a small over run of some of the ways you will have to use the colour. Then you’re warped back to where you were and have to carry on up the path you couldn't go before with your new found power. During the level it will give you new ways to use the colour and will introduce ways to use more than one colour at a time.

Average Score - 10/10

Overall Score - 10/10

Wow. My first perfect 10... Honestly it couldn't have gone to a more deserving game. This really is the most beautiful game I ever played and I can see why some people would class it as an art game (heck, even I did when I first played it). But Nihilumbra is so much more than that, it has great gameplay to go along with the art side and they tie together amazingly well. The story is gripping and I honestly love it, it brings up issues of belonging, wanting to live, whether it’s pointless to live if you’re just going to die and many more. I honestly love this game and think it is well worth the £1.99.