Tumble (Move)
The tumbling inferno
Whenever a new piece of tech like Move enters the games industry, it’s always interesting to see how developers exploit its possibilities to create something innovative. We are genuinely keen to see what forward-thinking developers like Hideo Kojima or the team at Platinum Games could come up with if they spent some time learning the intricacies of the device inside and out. For now though Tumble, the smart PSN puzzler from Supermassive Games, does a good job of showing what can be accomplished with Move using a little bit of imagination.
It's like Jenga with explosives
The aim is to build the highest tower possible using a collection of set blocks and shapes. The higher the block, the more bronze, silver and gold medals you earn, unlocking new challenges and game modes. It’s almost like Jenga in reverse, requiring players to keep a steady hand and place objects smartly to reach the necessary height. Like most of the Move launch catalogue before it, Tumble lets players manipulate said objects within the game world in realtime and in full 360-degrees.
It’s a simple premise, which is unfortunately precluded by an over-long and dull tutorial that explains how to move the controller and camera effectively. There is a real sense of liberation here that you don’t get with many puzzlers in that, while you are given a strict set of blocks to achieve your goal, how you reach it is up to you.
For example, an early challenge gave us six square blocks, a cylinder and a thin rectangular beam. We instinctively started to use the rectangular beam as our wide base to ensure the structure’s solidity, but we then remembered that we were free to rotate images to any degree, along any axis. Using our six square blocks we carefully and slowly placed them on top of one another to form a precarious tower, then we placed the sturdy cylinder and rectangle on top length-wise to give our height a massive boost. Job done, gold medal achieved.
Nobody sneeze
We felt pretty clear on how to best proceed when moving onto the following challenge, but the game threw us a curve ball by asking us to reach a set height and use every block to pass the stage. The blocks themselves became instantly more complex, with pointed triangle shapes, slippery glass squares and more. All of a sudden we had entered a real head-scratching zone as we failed several times to reach the target height.
That such a simple block puzzler formula can be given such great depth by opening it up into the third dimension is a remarkable achievement. It may not be the motion controller FPS or action titles many were hoping to see at launch, but Tumble remains a compelling concept that can truly leave you stumped for long stretches. Then suddenly the solution becomes clear and you feel accomplished for figuring it all out on your own.
Quite wisely, the developer has opted to steer clear of a boxed retail release of Tumble, instead opting for a PSN download. At the time of writing, no price has been set, but we’d be more than happy to pay a premium for a game as expansive and challenging as this. Bravo Supermassive, you’ve done Move proud.
Final Summary
It's a motion controlled puzzler with brains making smart, if subtle, use of the Move peripheral.
