Digital Dreams is proving that sometimes less is more. With its newest Playstation Vita game called Metrico, you have an action puzzler that takes a minimalist approach in game design.
When you jump straight in, your character is presented as a silhouette against a white background. Note that there are no instructions to guide you. But that’s ok because it’s really easy to figure out. As you progress, your world starts to build up in components along with these charts and graphs that fill in based on your actions. To illustrate for example, there is a bar graph that changes according to your character’s ability to jump.
An interesting aspect of Metrico is how the level design changes, thus prompting you to keep on observation, especially on the parts that can be interacted with. This is vital in terms of solving the puzzle aspect of the game. For example, a platform can move higher whenever you run to the right but at the same time falls when you jump. In another instance, it could be vice versa. Therefore, platforms can change depending on your input as well as the conditions of that level.
As you progress further in Metrico, the puzzles become more complex and, hence, more difficult. Players with limited patience may find them being stuck in a level to be very frustrating. Nonetheless, the puzzles themselves are stimulating enough to make you keep going.
Not only do the levels change in Metrico, but so do the controls. Later in the game, the environments will react to the Playstation Vita’s tilt orientation. Therefore, you may be required to run and jump towards a platform while holding the Vita at an angle. This can feel weird and strange with this type of orientation, which may be discomforting and somewhat irritating. You’ll also get the ability to fire projectiles as well as aim using the rear touchpad. Again, this type of control also ends up feeling a bit awkward especially for players who are used to aiming with the right stick.
That aside, Metrico looks fantastic against the Vita’s screen despite the minimalist approach. Thee environments are diverse in appearance even with the flat setup and lack of complex textures. What really gets this game standing out is the contrast in color against the background along with the changes that occur. Additionally, the character animation looks pretty neat with this type of style.
Sadly, Metrico does not run as smoothly all throughout the gameplay. There are moments where the frame rate slows down which usually happens during the transition between environments. But these issues don’t occur during vital times of gameplay, so it won’t disrupt your gameplay. Plus, these moments of slow down only last with just a few seconds.
Metrico really depends on players to use their brain to figure out the puzzles within. Through trial and error, they will find themselves quickly addicted and engaged into this game. That said, Metrico does have quite a lot of qualities in terms of content and creativity. While it may not be exactly perfect, it’s still a game that you should consider for your Playstation Vita, especially if puzzles are your cup of tea.
