CUBE

Developer: Metia Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Release Date: April 30, 2007
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: E

In a nutshell: "It's up to you to guide CUBE around the things CUBE can't go through."

0:01 The menu is pretty minimalist. Looks like they slapped it together at the last minute.
0:02 I work my way over to the training area without any training. The camera controls make my head spin.
0:04 When I roll over the side accidentally I stick to the wall instead of falling off. I was not expecting that.
0:07 I'm only on the second training level and already my head is spinning. The constant change of perspective by rolling around all sides of the level in 3D takes getting used to.
0:09 The constant loading is pretty annoying. It's just a few seconds every level, but it happens when you restart the level too.There's also a few second of autosaving after each level. Teeters the line between slightly annoying and unforgivable.
0:11 "Don't roll into bombs." "Avoid the bullets fired by shooters." Words to live by. Nice to see some action/reflex elements in a puzzle game.
0:19 Holy crap! Ai is a big spiky cube that shoots bullets. He's like a goth cube.
0:20 Finally done with training. Lots of building blocks to play with: traps, walls, buttons, etc. Let's see what they can do with them.
0:25 Level 4 actually requires some thought and a restart. I'm getting vertigo from all this rotating.
0:31 Level 7's the first one that really gives me trouble. I have to figure out how to push a block into just the right place. Turns out you have to use another block as a platform. Tricksy.
0:34 I really like the percussion-heavy background music. They're catchy without being repetitive and annoying.
0:40 The easy mode levels show some inventiveness, but they're too straightforward and over in 30 seconds or less. Time to move on to something harder.
0:41 Or not... apparently the harder levels are locked until you finish the earlier levels. WHo are they to tell me what levels I'm ready for? At least you can skip levels you can't finish.
0:43 This game is messing with my spatial relations. As I type I expect the laptop screen to rotate. A sure sign of a good game.
0:44 One problem with the camera... it can be hard to tell if a bomb is in front of you or slightly above or to the side. It's only slightly annoying so far, but I can see it being a potentially big problem.
0:52 Level 14 annoyingly includes a key that you can't get if you pass by it.
0:58 Remember that bomb problem I mentioned a few minutes ago? I die again and again in level 15 to bombs I didn't know were threats. Groan.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes
Why? Just to see what more complex puzzles they can come up with.

This review based on a retail copy rented from GameFly.

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