Well That Doesn't Leave Us Much Time Does It?

There's been alot of hype on the net over a game called Braid. Needless to say I took it upon myself to check it out...

The basic concept of the game is this (now pay attention children...):

When we play games, we go through a process of learning. We learn what must be done to advance in the game by making mistakes. We learn how to not do it and so in turn can deduce how it must be done. Every game involves this process of learning, some more than others (The Zelda games are a major follower of this philosophy. The Halo games not so much.) In these games, your mistakes are punished, normally by death. In Braid, well, rather than punishing you for the mistake, it allows you to learn from it immediately and rectify it, Prince of Persia style. But this game goes deeper than that. It's not a case of just reversing time and trying again. It's a case of reversing time so that you're mid-try and adjusting your actions ever so slightly to create the desired effect. The puzzles in this game are too complex and tricky to keep retrying from the logical restart point that as gamers we're used and so your entire thinking and approach to solving puzzles has to shift dramatically.

Now, I imagine this sound rather simplistic... Running through a level, reversing time whenever you go wrong. Well, that's just the first stage. Things get a little bit more complicated as you advance through the story. The second stage is a similar concept, however, certain objects within the level are immune to flow of time (forwards or backwards) and so a whole extra layer is added to the gameplay. Then things get even more complicted. In the third stage, the entire flow of time is controlled by your movement. Move forward and time flow forward. Move backwards and, well, if you can't work that out you'd better toddle along back to school...

The game goes much deeper than this, but I'll admit that I could only play the demo. Thing is, it's got under my skin. I want to go home and play the demo again. What would be nicer would be if it were released on the PS3 rather than having to play on my housemate's X-box. Either way though, I really do recommend it. I looks awesome (if a little strange), it sounds lovely. It's clever and the only game I've played that comes near the thought involved is Portal (which incidentially has the most amazing song once the game's finished. I loved it a little too much me thinks...) So. I shall go and poke Mr Sony UK and insist that they purchase this game and release it on the shop so I can sit in my room in the middle of the night and clap my hands together. I do believe in fairies! I do!