Download Games Roundup
StarDrone! Oddbox! Pix! TorchLight! Cogs!
For this week's download roundup we're going back to the future, as four-fifths of these games debuted on other formats ages ago.
Fear not, however, because chances are you either didn't bother with them the first time around, or they're so aged you'll be glad to be reminded of times when people didn't mock you for your impending mid-life crisis.
But, first up, a rarity: a third-party Move game, and proof that as far as downloadable games go, Sony's motion controller can be a creative goldmine for talented developers.
Stardrone
- PSN - £6.29 - Trailer
- PlayStation Plus price - £3.15
- 3D support coming via a patch.
If it wasn't for Move functionality, StarDrone would be a pretty simple game to describe. You guide a space ship around hazard-strewn environments, trying to gather up all the shinies in the quickest possible time. The usual jazz.
But in the absence of conventional directional control via a thumbstick or dpad, Beatshapers' collect 'em up becomes an entirely different animal. By taking away the cosily familiar, something as simple as basic ship navigation suddenly becomes a precarious affair.
At first the main focus is diligent pointing. You merely use the various latch points to rotate and build up momentum so you can fling yourself around the level and scoop up the stars.
But the further you delve into StarDrone's cankered innards, the more daring manoeuvres become the norm. Judging precisely when to let go becomes all-important; fail and you'll explode into an inglorious shower of bolts, and have to start over.
Surprisingly early on, the game has the confidence to throw a level at you that's so tough it almost dares you to conquer it. After ten or 20 attempts you'll experience one of those make or break moments, but once you're through it, the seat-of-your-pants satisfaction is immense.
From there on, Stardrone carries on taunting you with its breathless pinball-breakout king of swing madness. It's a complex, abusive relationship, and one you should enter into with your eyes wide open.
8/10