Developer: Colibri Games
Steam Release: Apr 2011
Hours Played: 6.5
Similar To: Axel & Pixel
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips
TBS is a delicate adventure that combines hidden object games with puzzle-solving. The result is a light and pleasant experience for those who possess a little patience. On starting each chapter you're shown a beautifully hand-drawn environment that usually requires finding a number of objects. As you click on these objects they are collected and stored in the drop-down menu on the right. Before long you'll realise that to progress, and to see another funny/peculiar screen, you have to dig around. This invariably involves either exploring a hidden area within the main screen or interacting with menu items. The goal of each chapter is usually to find an ultimate component that sets some sort of mechanism in motion to move you on to the next area.
Added to the mix is the task of solving puzzles or playing little arcade games to acquire items that move the game forward. These puzzles and games were perfectly-pitched being neither too easy nor too hard. True, some were a bit of a breeze but the artwork and well-designed environments always made the experience a fun and enjoyable one. For me, the anticipation and wonder of what the next screen held drove me forward in this game. On the other side of the coin, it has to be said that there were some areas of the game that were a tad obscure and where I was totally baffled. True, there is a very good hint system - where you fill up the question mark meter in the top right corner by clicking on the buzzing flies - but I still had to resort to a couple of visits to YouTube. However, these occurrences were few and did not ruin immersion.
TBS is not only a very well-presented production but an inventive one as well. Your main start-screen consists of choices that don't beat about the bush: you can start your game; change profiles; exit the game or tweak sound and full-screen/windowed mode via Options. The hand-drawn environments are like those beautiful picture books you stared at and found so intriguing when you were a child. Massive attention to detail has been made in the artwork department. The sound also suits the visual tone harmoniously. A delicate, melodic piece is heard as you play; subtle enough to be enjoyed but not intrusive enough to put you off. Sound effects are spot-on as well. Finding menu items activates a satisfying and absorbing tinkle and even those flies, which you might think would be irritating, give off a satisfying feeling.
The game consists of about five or six chapters that might take about an hour each to complete. Each chapter usually has about three or four main screens which are usually sub-divided by anything up to around six or seven interior areas. At the end of each chapter you are taken to the main screen where you will be given jigsaw puzzle pieces that make up a section of the full globe. These pieces will show that part of the globe in daylight so that as you complete each section less and less is shown in night-time and more and more as day. It is quite a good system as it divides the game up into five or six parts and, like a book, allows you to take a break at convenient points.
There are text-heavy adventure games that require you to wade through mountains of dialogue (as if you are reading a book rather than playing a game) and then there are breezier adventure games with the emphasis on actually playing a game! The Tiny Bang Story may not be for everyone as it will certainly make you stop to think at times and it may even bring in mild frustration as you search maddeningly for that last elusive piece but, for me, I put it at one of my personal favourite adventure games of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment