Game Reviews

Wide Sky

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Wide Sky
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Wide Sky doesn't want to be like anything else. A thread of odd humour runs through its tutorial, its visual style is stunning, and its presentation is some of the best we've seen on the App Store.

But the game underneath it all, the mechanics of play that really matter, are underwhelming at best and broken at worst.

In its charge to be special and unique, Wide Sky falls into pitfalls that less attractive, less esoteric games would dodge with ease. While it's wrapped in the trappings of greatness, it falls surprisingly short of its lofty aspirations.

Narrow ground

The game is all about flinging a hedgehog into some targets. You flick the critter into the air at the start of each level, and use a rope attached to the spiky mammal to latch onto low hanging clouds.

You throw out your rope by pushing on the right side of the screen, and control your thrusts and swings once you're attached onto a cloud by tilting the device. It makes the game feel like a cross between Bionic Commando and a physics-puzzler.

Once you find a target, by following a helpful red direction marker, you need to swing into it. After it's smashed you have to collect the shards for extra points. The faster you swing in for a smash, the more time you get to grab the shards.

Bobbing and swinging around the game's world should be a joy. The graphics are a delight, with every aspect of the UI designed to fit into the witty-but-cute scheme of the rest of the game. Unfortunately, though, things go sour pretty quickly.

Broken sky

The controls just don't work as they should, so you'll tap to extend your rope only to find it flinging out and connecting to a cloud you had no intention of grabbing. The tilt controls don't fare much better, often having no correlation to what your hedgehog is doing.

There are rare occasions when everything clicks and you're swinging through the world without a care, but all too often your rope will grab the wrong cloud or miss altogether and you'll plummet to the ground with a depressing thud.

In its quest to be unique, Wide Sky only manages to be one of the most frustrating experiences the App Store has to offer.

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Wide Sky

As gorgeous as it looks, and as clever as it sounds, Wide Sky plays like a mess
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.