Glide Factor

First things first - the majority of phone owners aren't going to get the most out of Glide Factor. Playing it will be like playing Point Blank without a gun or Guitar Hero with a joypad.

This is because Glide Factor has been designed to be compatible with the Zeemote and, while it still works using standard mobile controls, it's not an ideal compromise. The game's makers at Sprimp might say their creation simply supports the bluetooth controller, but it plays like the controller is more than just an optional extra.

That's because Glide Factor is almost a technical demo of how the Zeemote can offer pinpoint controls, and without that level of control the craft you're in control of is very hard to steer through the game's maddening scrape-one-pixel-and-you're-dead gaps and tight tunnels.

Glide Factor is a simple game, but it's also a good looking one that borrows its aesthetic from numerous retro shooters and block-based puzzlers.

Your craft constantly scrolls upwards through these futuristic levels, and can be sped up or slowed down (but not stopped entirely) using up and down controls. All the while you feel as if you're on a magical mystery tour through a computer's innards, bombarded from all angles by angular patterns and swirls that make the game feel both unique and stylish.

While it looks like a shooter from the '80s, Glide Factor involves no shooting. Instead, you simply have to avoid obstacles and the occasional enemy.

These geometric obstacles begin in the easy first two levels as mostly stationary groups of blocks to nip between or swerve around, but soon they come to life and begin to move in hazardous patterns that often leave you a preciously tiny window to accelerate through.

Miss your one opportunity and you lose one of your five lives. Once these are all up, the level has to be started again.

With nothing to shoot and no score to notch up, Glide Factor comes with one basic goal: to reach the end of each of the game's meagre eight levels in one piece, and in the fastest time you possibly can.

There are a few extra dimensions added - although not many - by bonus items you can collect that replenish health, offer a temporary shield and shave a second or two off your time, but mainly your final goal is very straightforward.

Mostly because of those controls, Glide Factor is far from easy to complete. Some of the gaps you need to slide through are heart-poundingly tight, and some are just too tight for navigation with two buttons or your average phone joystick.

Cue plenty of tentative 'left' and 'right'ing of buttons in an attempt to keep your ship in one piece. And plenty of cursing when it just doesn't feel possible.

The only gamers likely to enjoy Glide Factor are going to be among the more dedicated who relish a seemingly impossible challenge. As mentioned, there are only eight levels so this isn't a lengthy game at all, but the 'hard' and 'core' levels require a lot of dedication to get through.

Even if you ignore the fact the game is too hard for most people to enjoy though, there are basic problems with it. The sound for instance doesn't match the slick visuals - in fact, it's near non-existent aside from a few beeps.

It's a shame, because Glide Factor could have been an engrossing mind bender of an experience with a bit more work. Instead it's too hard, too frustrating to control, too light on content and doesn't deliver enough variation in its challenges or enough atmosphere to hook you in.