Games for Lunch: Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity
In a nutshell: All the fun of physics class. Seriously, I had a pretty fun physics teacher...
5/27/2009 6:24 PM | 2 Comments | Page 1 of 3
Kyle Orland
Status: "You can't get quality video game editorial from a value menu!" "No, really, you can't."
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...
