‘Collider’ Review
Intro
Collider is a physics puzzle game where you try and get rid of all the + and – balls on the screen by getting them to hit each other.
Think ahead and predict where the balls are going to go
Gameplay 9/10
There are three types of balls in Collider, + (positive) balls, – (negative) balls and blank balls. The idea is that you want to get the positive balls to hit the negative balls to cancel each other out. You achieve this by placing balls (of all types) within a level and getting all the balls to cancel out (apart from the blank balls). However, you cannot place balls at certain places meaning you have to use the laws of physics to make the balls collide. If two positives or two negatives meet they form a bigger ball, meaning you must use a ball of that size (or two smaller balls for that matter) to remove it. Blanks balls are used to nudge positive and negative balls together and don’t react with anything.
There are also pipes, ropes, spinning wheels and buttons that help and hinder your course.
Dotted around the levels are stars which you collect by making a ball touch them. The stars are perfectly placed where you have to use a less obvious strategy to collect the star.
Overall the levels are varied and unpredictable, however I sometimes found myself just randomly placing balls to see what happens which takes away the puzzle element, but I also sometimes evaluated the level and decided what I was going to do, which involved a certain level of thinking which was very satisfying, especially when you complete the level.
A neat feature is the option to fast forward and rewind the gameplay when you have set the balls off.
Buttons, ropes and pipes make levels more varied.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics are really smooth and the subtle transparency when you go into a pipe looks nice. However, I dislike the rustic theme (such as sewage pipes and knurled metal) and gives a dirty impression on the game. The graphics are good, but I tend to disfavour the theme of the game. The balls are very well presented.
Controls 9/10
The controls are good and easy to use. It just involves the simple drag and drop of balls. One drawback of this is that when I was placing balls on a level. The game requires precision to place the ball right but as I lift my finger away from a ball it moves a tiny bit which can be a bit annoying when you are trying to set up a level.
Sound 7/10
The music is very weird and I don’t know if it fits the game that well. However, it is nice to listen to and helps make the game less monotonous. The sound effects are very good, especially when two balls hit, they sound like glass marbles hitting.
Menus 10/10
The menus are easy to navigate and quite responsive, however they have adopted the rusty pipe theme which I dislike.
The menus are intuitive, but I dislike the design
Longevity 8/10
Collider has 56 levels which is a reasonable amount, and as the levels get increasingly harder, you will be glued to this for a long time. Another game mode included is ‘Speed Round’ where you try and complete as many levels in 2/5/10 minutes. There is also OpenFeint with 70 Achievements and Leader Boards. Leader Boards are ranked as how many levels people can complete in the ‘Speed Round’ and how long it took for you to complete the game. All of these factors help improve the longevity of Collider which makes it quire good.
Price 10/10
£0.59/$0.99 is very cheap for such a polished game.
Conclusion 62/70 – 4.5/5
Overall, Collider is a very smooth puzzle game that offers some unique level design and is a challenge game for any puzzle lover. Check it out.
