Daniel James Thomas reviews Forma.8…
Forma.8, a game developed and published by MixedBag and originally released back in 2015 for Wii U, has now been released for several other platforms! Today, I get my opportunity to experience Forma.8 for PlayStation 4!
Forma.8 is a game where you take control of a circular flying alien who, from what I can make of the story, has departed from the mothership to adventure and explore the environment around it. The little guy somewhat represents WALL-E, except round – and you fly.
It begins with a short cut scene which tries to get you up to speed on what the game’s about; however I found this a bit short and slightly hard to understand the main concept of the storyline. Sadly, this type of information is something I find vital to understanding and enjoying a game and it was unfortunately missed out.
Forma.8’s gameplay consists of the little spherical guy wondering alone in a desolate wasteland of cartoon wonderfulness, collecting power to keep him running and discovering secrets – this seems to be the main aim of the game. The atmosphere of being alone has been captured perfectly by the team at MixedBag – there are no friends, no one to talk to, just you, and whatever else lies in the darkness.
The movement of the alien / robot within this game is a little drowsy, there is no slow or fast speeds – there’s only one consistent speed which can sometimes be annoying, especially when you want to get on the game. Sometimes you want to go at your own pace, and sadly this option isn’t offered.
Each game must have its ‘enemies’, and Forma.8’s enemies consist of more spherical aliens, along with different animal resembling aliens – such as spiders and bats. These enemies can sometimes be dangerous, ‘draining’ (excuse the pun) the little guy’s power with every hit. The power doesn’t just refill itself however, you can’t just ‘run’ and hide. To repower yourself you must either find the power balls, or de-power other enemies and take their power (reminds me of Dracula).
But how do you destroy them you ask? What mystical powers does this little alien robot have? Lazer cannons? Nope – infact you start with… nothing! That’s right, nothing! You can only gain your first weapon / ability by progressing through the game and completing a variety of puzzles and challenges. Your first unlockable ability is a sort of sonic boom – a light flash centres from the alien which is your first ability and weapon. It’s usually two hits to kill / disable an enemy dependent on which enemy they are.
The challenges you face to gain these powers are not easy, you must be quick, prompt and thorough to bypass the challenges. I won’t give any more away about what powers you gather – but there is something I will say, use them wisely.
Forma.8 is a difficult to understand game – there are no instructions, and there is no guidance. There’s just you, alone, having to work everything out – and this isn’t really positive. I found discovering where I had to go one of the mere parts which I did not understand. I did not know if there was an end goal, or if even I was going the right way! Puzzle / Adventures are great if done correctly, and for me, Forma.8’s guidance concept was none – making the game un-necessary harder and more annoying.
The environment within Forma.8 I consider to be one of its main and more significant features – the scenery and the music. The scenes as well as the music both mix together well within Forma.8 as the music adapts to the scene and anything which happens inside it. Puzzles, events, environmental changes and movement all contribute towards the way the game looks and the way the music plays within the game – this is a great feature to have! It not only makes you feel relaxed during the game, but also wary of what could happen next.
So to sum it all up – Forma.8 is a well designed game, with a range of different environments and puzzles spread without. I’m sure, if the right person played it, that it could provide many hours of fun! However, Forma.8 unfortunately fell short for me, as the negatives overcame the positives. I felt that guidance, such as an arrow pointing where to go, or even some type of hints could have proven very useful and even swayed me towards loving this game. An aspect which also I feel is missing is auto-saves or save points. Finishing a puzzle is difficult enough, but when you’ve done loads and suddenly die, the thought of redoing everything you’ve just done in the past few minutes it quite horrifying.
Rating: 6/10
Pros:
+Great scenery promotes a relaxing atmosphere
+Puzzles great for problem solvers
Cons:
– No tutorials or assistance when progressing throughout the game
– Difficult movement
– No save points
Reviewed on PlayStation 4
Daniel Thomas @_DanielThomas00
