Developer: EM Studios

Publisher: Deep Silver

Release Date: April 14, 2009

System: Wii (reviewed), Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 It's a game named after a fundamental property of physics. How could I resist?

0:01 Unsettling strings play over a creepy Mii-alike version of what I can only assume is the good doctor Wolff on the preview screen. There's also a bouncing red ball with a big G. CREEPY!

0:02 A barebones, white loading screen advances quite slowly, all things considered. "Well hello, everybody!" says the white-haired Mii-alike. "I'm Professor Heinz Wolff and I'd like to introduce you to Gravity -- a simple yet wonderfully challenging puzzle game." He goes on to describe how to use the main menu. THE MAIN MENU. If they're explaining something so basic, I don't think I'm the target audience here...

0:04 On the options screen, virtual Dr. Wolff tells me I can use this screen to "alter Gravity (the game, not the physical property. Not even I can do that.)" Heh.

0:05 The first two of 100 game levels are unlocked. None ofthe "sandbox" areas are unlocked just yet. I open up Level 1 and get a 2-D side view of a makeshift wooden bridge. There's a manhole cover on the wall on the right, a ramp up to a big red button. Creepy music in the background.

0:06 OK, so I can use the pointer to pick up a big, red-and-white-striped girder. I can rotate with the Nunchuk, then drop it right next to the button. When I click the "play" button a ball rolls out of the manhole, hitting the girder, which falls over to activate the button. "LEVEL COMPLETE," reads the swaying cloth that comes fluttering down from the ceiling.

0:10 Things are already getting a bit tricky in Level 2. This time the manhole ball can't roll through a narrow tunnel. I have to set up three smaller balls to roll into each other like round dominos to hit the button. They keep rolling off their tiny pedestals as I try to place them precisely.

0:12 I'm a bit stumped on Level 3, where a ball rolls up and down an halfpipe, but doesn't even come close to reaching the button back to the left. I have some block to build a ramp, but I don't see how it's going to curve back enough.

0:15 Took me a while, but I finally figured it out. The key was to build a stack of blocks and let the ball knock them out, so one falls over onto the button. It's still counterintuitive to me that the ball doesn't have to directly hit the button. Also, I'm getting annoyed by the touchiness of the blocks, which act like they're completely hollow and almost weightless.

0:17 Some basic bridge-building in Level 4 -- putting girders on top of other girders to create a path over a gap. It's all made a bit harder by the controls, which make it hard to get a straight, 90-degree angle. I have to be very delicate with my placement to avoid knocking everything over.

0:19 Level 5 replaces the ball with a simple truck that rolls forward automatically. This could be interesting... I guess...

0:20 Wow is Level 6 easy. The ball rolls down, then up into a T-block, which knocks a girder into the button. I solved it in literally 15 seconds. The difficulty seems pretty inconsistent so far.

0:22 I use a square block as a ramp-like wedge in Level 7, another 15-second puzzle. You know what, I'm gonna stop writing notes about these levels until they get marginally more interesting.

0:27 Level 10 has three balls coming out of the manhole. The first two fall into small gaps, acting as bridges for the last one, which hits the button with some help from me. It's like a Rube Goldberg device or something.

0:29 Building a bridge with all square blocks in Level 12. It needs some careful spacing, I guess, but it's still way too simple to be interesting. I wish I could get to those later puzzles already...

0:30 Another game of chain-reaction marbles in Level 13. Are they out of ideas already?

0:40 Level 15 is my first real stumper. I'm almost sure the mess of ramps and T-blocks I've erected is not nearly stable enough to support the truck I'm trying to get across this wide gap, but I can't figure out how else to do it! The hint icon is blinking at me, tauntingly. NO! I can GET this! I KNOW IT!

0:44 OK, after watching my tower fall under the stress of the truck more times than I care to admit, I use 10 of my 250 "hint points" to get some help. AH! I'm supposed to use the T-blocks as supports on the sides of the deepest part of the gap! From there everything kind of falls into place.

0:46 And then Level 16 is over in 30 seconds, once I place three simple blocks in a bridge pattern. I swear, the difficulty curve on this game is like a mountain range.

0:48 Level 18 gets a genuine grin out of me, as the dropping ball hits a makeshift seesaw that launchs a block into the button across the screen. I'm actually kind of proud I came up with that solution so quickly!


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0:53 Level 20 is still relatively simple, but it's notable for introducing a ball shaped like a huge glass eye. Ew.

0:55 Huh ... in Level 21, I actually use a block to slow down the ball deliberately, so it will hit a downward ramp and gain speed to get over a lip and to the button. Not sure it was the preferred way to go, but it works!

0:57 Level 22 looks complicated, but in the end it's just about knocking a block into a little truck, which rolls into the button on its own.

0:59 In Level 23, knocking over a tower of blocks nudges an eyeball which sloooowly inches towards the button. It's excrutiating to watch.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? The interface isn't too horrible, the puzzles are starting to show some promise, and I'm a sucker for these kinds of physics puzzles.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.



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