Review: Trials Of Topoq
Earlier this year the PlayStation Eye was bundled with the October release of the Eye of Judgment, which is a great game if you enjoy card battling games like Magic: The Gathering. The title is surprisingly deep considering the playing field is only a 3x3 square, and should satisfy any gamer looking for a new card battling experience.
Shortly after the release of The Eye of Judgment, Sony released a few titles on the PlayStation network that utilizes the PlayStation Eye peripheral. There are four total now, Mezmerize, Aquaria (not to be confused with the beautiful indie title by Derek Yu), Operation Creature Feature and Trials of Topoq. Since I picked up the peripheral, I have downloaded all of the titles and have been really pleased by the content.
My favorite PlayStation Eye title is Trials of Topoq, which I feel is a must for any PS Eye owner. The title takes inspiration from the wooden labyrinth marble rolling games such as Super Monkey Ball and Mercury, but adds a new twist to the genre with the innovative control scheme. Players take position in front of the camera and maneuver a marble through a beautifully designed castle by body movement. The video is displayed as a mosaic tile grid on the floor of the castle. Movement is detected by the camera and translates that movement to lift the tiles of the floor to push the ball into various contraptions and break cages littered across the castle. The video feed is duplicated on nearly every floor of the castle, so once the ball is pushed off of one ledge, it enters the other side of the play field.
The initial experience is exhilarating, joyous and slightly confusing. Fortunately the beginning levels are gently designed to get you accustomed to the control, without posing too much of a challenge. Once you begin to understand that if you keep your body still and only move your arms to influence the ball, the experience opens up and becomes surreally satisfying. Once the game gets kicking, the experience is akin to Tai Chi designed as a game. You begin to feel a phantom ball rolling around your physical space, as you push, cradle, and nudge it into its various goals.
Visually, the title is more impressive than you would expect for a seemingly simple ball game. In HD, it looks great with a surrealist twist like an M.C. Echer castle painting. The castle is perched high into the clouds with nothing visible below. Sometimes the ball will fall through the clouds or launched into the heavens by a catapult. In standard definition, the game looks really muddy and it is difficult to tell where the ball is located.
Trials of Topoq is a standout title for the PS Eye, and one that any Eye owner should download. At the slim price of $4.99, it would be hard to resist this beautifully surreal experience.
Toots
Posted to Hot Stuff, Reviews, Video Games on 26 December 2007
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: playstation eye, ps3, psn, sony, trials of topoq
I bought this and I agree; it is fairly impressive. Neat graphics and I love the music!
Wow I really like that architectural / art design for this game. Do you have to have the image of yourself on the roofs of the buildings or can you have it so that it just looks like a normal roof, or have the image be distorted or something? Having a moving image of myself on the game screen would be totally distracting and destroy any immersion the game might offer (for me anyway).