Monday, December 9, 2013

FEZ :: A new dimension for 2D platform game

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...ABOUT FEZ...
  • Title  : FEZ
  • Genre  : puzzle/platform
  • Developers  : Polytron Corporation
  • Publishers  : Microsoft Studios, Trapdoor
  • Designers  : Phil Fish
  • Platforms  : Xbox 360, Windows, Linux, Steam OS, PS4, PS3, PSVita
  • Release Date  : April 13, 2012 (Xbox)
...THE STORY...
FEZ take place in a 2D platform world where the main character, Gomez, was given a magical hat ('fez' means 'hat' in Turkish) by a magic mysterious artifact called Hexahedron. Using this hat, Gomez is able to perceive a third dimension in his flat, 2D world. But something went wrong and the Hexahedron explodes, causing glitches in Gomez' world. Now, Gomez' world is in 3D and he has to find all the fragments of the Hexahedron before his world collapses.

...THE GAME...
The objective of the game is to collect all cubes and cube fragments simply by touching it. There are also anti-cubes and treasure maps to collect. Collecting cubes and anti-cubes helps player to unlocked new areas. To obtain cubes, player has to solve various puzzle. Some of them contain encrypted symbols that need to be analyzed.

...THE REVIEWS...
One of the most interesting thing about FEZ is the world itself. Although it is shown as a 2D platform world, player can manipulate the world by rotating the camera 90'. By doing so, player will be able to see doors and passage that won't be shown in the first perspective.
Fez_Rotation
Not only that, player can manipulate the distance of platforms by rotating the world to the correct perspective. Then, he can jump greater distance than when he is in only one perspective. For the lack of words, I'm quoting the example from Wikipedia:
For example, while standing on a floating platform, shifting the perspective 90 degrees allows Gomez to jump to another platform that had previously been on the opposite side of the screen. Rotating back to the original perspective after the jump reveals that Gomez has moved a great distance.
Another thing that makes the game interesting, is that the Gomez character is very cute. Even when it falls and dies, it's still cute. The music sounds like a monophonic ringtone, which brings a lot of memories because it's similar to Mario Bros theme music. The dialogues between player and NPC are heard using some alienated words with cute sounds, adding more cute elements to the game.

There is no limited number of life in game, player can play for as long as he likes. Gomez will die if he falls from very high places, and will soon be re-spawned. Some of the areas are above the water; Gomez can swim, but there's nothing to do underwater so it kinds of unimportant feature. The scenes, however, remind me of some Mario levels and I think it's what the developers want to sell to the audiences. The memory of playing 8-bit games.

FEZ brings new experience to user in the world of platform game. We used to play 2D platform games such as Mario Bros or Megaman, now we can play 2D platform game with the ability to shift perspectives. It is a new experience for me, and it is awesome!

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