Game Reviews

Burn the Rope

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Burn the Rope

Embarrassingly enough, this is the third time we've reviewed Burn the Rope for Pocket Gamer. Last year's iPhone version got a Bronze Award, and then the Windows Phone version also got a Bronze Award.

So is it third time bronzey for this PS Vita version? Not quite. While everything about this latest version is a carbon copy of the previous outings, it's impossible to ignore that bumped-up price tag.

Paying extra for a game that's free on another platform isn't something most gamers are likely to enjoy.

Oh burn

The Burn the Rope that you know and more or less enjoy is here, from the visuals to the gameplay.

Each level presents you with a set of intertwined ropes, and touching one will cause it to set alight. The fire then makes its way up the screen, and you need to keep rotating the play area to stop the fire from going out before it has a chance to burn everything in its path.

The going gets tougher the further you progress, with coloured ropes to burn, explosive bugs, and other such twists on the basic concept.

As with the previous versions, Burn the Rope on PS Vita takes a while to get going, but eventually you'll find an enjoyable puzzler that is both hectic and addictive.

There are three different control schemes, with the original accelerometer-based approach swapped out in favour of a touch-based one (although you can find the original control scheme in the options). It works just as well, at the possible expense of the essence of what made the original game great.

Roped in

But here's where things get tricky.

On PS Vita, the game costs £3.19. In comparison, it's 79p on Windows Phone, 69p on iPhone, and free on Android. There's already been a hoohah among PS Vita users on the subject.

Of course, you can argue that you're paying for the PS Vita trophies, and the Vita leaderboards. But really, it's extremely difficult to justify that price for what is essentially a straight port of a two-year-old game.

If you've never played Burn the Rope before, and you don't own a smartphone device, then by all means give the PS Vita version a shot.

Otherwise, it's incredibly difficult to recommend this version over the others. Unfortunately, it does nothing new to justify its beefed-up price tag.

Burn the Rope

It's Burn the Rope again, but this time with a bumped-up price point. Only grab if you don't own a mobile device
Score
Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.