Crush (video game)
| Crush | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Zoë Mode |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation Portable |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle/platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Crush is a platformer-puzzle video game developed by Kuju Entertainment's Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega in 2007 for the PlayStation Portable. The player takes the role of Danny, a teenager suffering from insomnia, who uses an experimental device to explore his own mind in order to put his life back to normal. Each level of the game, inspired by artists such as Tim Burton and M.C. Escher, requires the player to control Danny as he collects his "marbles" and other thoughts in order to proceed.
Crush's primary gameplay mechanic involves manipulating each game level between 3D and 2D views, allowing the player to reach platforms and locations inaccessible from within a different view. Reviewers praised this mechanic, along with other aspects of the game's presentation, and accorded Crush several gaming awards.
Story
The protagonist of the game, a young man named Danny, suffers from insomnia caused by worry, stress and repressed memories from his past. Refusing to go a hospital, he seeks the help of Dr. Reuben, a mad scientist. Dr. Reuben offers Danny the use of C.R.U.S.H., a Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics device and of Dr. Reuben's own design. The device's helmet places Danny under hypnosis, during which time he is able to unclutter his mind and repress his childhood memories, curing his insomnia.[1]
Gameplay
Crush is made up of 40 levels within four different worlds, each based on an event in Danny's past.[2] The levels represent Danny's mind: a dark city landscape with many skyscrapers and other tall buildings and the occasional streetlamp. The levels are mostly composed of platforms formed from blocks of different shapes and sizes. The player's goal on each level is to earn points by moving Danny around the level and collecting scattered marbles of three different colors and point values in order to open an exit, to which the player must then safely guide Danny. Danny has limited jumping ability and can crawl into narrow areas.
The main gameplay feature of Crush is the ability to switch the layout of the level between 2D and 3D representations at any time in order to reach inaccessible areas and solve the game's puzzles. The player can switch the third-person camera between four directional side views and a top-down view at any time while in 3D. When in these views, the player can have Danny "crush" the level, causing all the 3D elements to collapse into 2D; crushing from the side views results in a 2D platformer-like view, while crushing from the top-down view provides a 2D top-down perspective. Crushing connects and merges platforms on the same visual plane in the 3D level but were previously separated by a large distance, creating a pathway across the level in the 2D view. The player can also uncrush the level at any time, returning the game to a typical 3D platformer. Certain blocks, when crushed, become impassible, either becoming obstacles through which Danny cannot pass or ledges the player can use to reach other parts of the level. Attempts to crush the level in a manner that would harm Danny are canceled. However, Danny can be left in a helpless state, such as hanging in mid-air, upon uncrushing.[3]
Monsters that can harm Danny inhabit the levels, but the player can crush them by flattening impassable blocks against them. The player may also encounter timers that will begin to elapse when crushed for the first time and can only be stopped by Danny jumping on them. Danny wakes up from his mental explorations if he falls off the level, is touched by a monster, or fails to stop a timer, but the C.R.U.S.H. machine reinserts him at the start of the level or the last checkpoint that was passed moments later.[1]
Scattered throughout the levels are various objects. There are spheres and cylinders that the player can roll when crushed appropriately, and can be used as platforms or to depress switches. In addition, there are optional jigsaw pieces that can be collected to reveal extra artwork in the game menus. Some of Danny's thoughts, represented by glowing neon icons on the level's graphics, are only activated when the world is crushed properly to complete them.[3] Some thoughts allow Danny to jump higher or stop time; a thought trophy on each level, once completed by crushing, unlocks a special challenge mode for that level that can be played later. Once the player completes the level, he or she is given a rating determined by how long Danny spent on the level, how many times Danny was "woken up", and a bonus for collecting all the marbles, the jigsaw piece, and the trophy hidden on the level.[3] The challenge mode for each level requires the player to complete the level in a limited amount of time and with a limited number of crushes.[2]
Development
An interview with Zoë Mode executive producer Paul Mottram revealed that the game concept was born in 2002, but work did not actually begin until 2006. The initial game concept was built on the crushing mechanism between 2D and 3D, and they only had to put up appropriate obstacles to prevent players from simply "crushing" across the level.[4] Mottram noted that at the time during the development of Crush, the gameplay of Super Paper Mario had not yet been revealed, and thus were surprised to learn that the two games shared a similar mechanic.[5]
Mottram stated that the game mechanic had been developed and refined for six months prior to developing the story and characters; the development team wanted to have "a normal person in an impossible situation".[5] The art and level design were inspired by Tim Burton, Mike Mignola, and M.C. Escher. The plot was originally more morbid than in the final product, with Danny dying and the rest of the game told as flashbacks.[5]
The game's levels were developed on a level editor on the PlayStation Portable, but they were not able to refine the editor in time for shipping. Mottram said "It would be great to see user generated content and this is something we have been seriously thinking about for the future" and that downloadable content "would work perfectly with the Crush level structure and I am sure that fans of the game would be eager to see more levels."[5] Mottram has stated they would like to bring a sequel to market based on the highly positive feedback they had received,[4] however, with other Zoë Mode projects such as SingStar and Play taking precedence, he does not know when such a title could occur.[6]
Reception
Crush received generally positive reviews, with an aggregate score of 84 out of 100 from Metacritic[7] and 84% from GameRankings.[8]
The game was highly praised for its innovative approach to gameplay. Ryan Davis of GameSpot appreciated Crush for owing "very little of its novel concept to games that preceded it."[1] Nick Suttner of 1UP called the game a "cognitively rewarding, expertly designed puzzle experience that truly plays like nothing else."[9] Reviews were mixed on the game's learning curve. IGN's Jeremy Dunham praised the ordering of the puzzle elements, that "there's always something new to overcome, but they're introduced at an ideal pace and most have perfectly logical solutions... you just have to think 'outside the box.'"[2] Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead commented that game "doesn't give you much time to put the basics into practice before it starts throwing even more complications into the mix".[3] However, some found that other elements of the game detracted from the game's uniqueness. X-Play's Greg Orlando, while stating that the game was "one of the most novel games ever made", noted that the game itself was "simply not very fun", as it lacked many player incentives beyond manipulating the world and collecting objects on each level.[10]
Reviewers noted that some puzzles were awkward due to the selection of the PSP controls.[2][9] The game's story was found to be poor by reviewers, but this was made up for by the gameplay elements; as stated by Charles Harold of the New York Times, "the minimal story is as forgettable as its puzzles are ingenious."[11]
IGN awarded Crush PSP Game of the Month for May 2007.[12] GameSpy called Crush the third best PSP game and the "PSP Puzzle Game of the Year" for its Game of the Year 2007 awards.[13] Similarly, IGN awarded Crush the "Best PSP Puzzle Game", "Most PSP Innovative Game", and "Best PSP Game No One Played" awards in their Game of the Year 2007 selections.[14] Crush won the 2007 Develop Conference Industry Award for "Best New Handheld IP".[15]
According to Paul Mottram, sales of Crush did not meet the team's expectations, but Mottram hopes that the game "will hopefully stick around for a while and continue to shift units".[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Davis, Ryan (2007-06-05). "Crush Review". Gamespot. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ a b c d Dunham, Jeremy (2007-05-31). "Crush Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ a b c d Whitehead, Dan (2007-05-24). "Crush". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ a b "Interview: Paul Mottram, Zoë Mode senior producer". Sega Nerds. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ a b c d Modojo Staff (2007-07-09). "Interview: Crush Executive Producer Paul Mottram". MoDojo. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ a b Wallis, Alistair (2007-08-26). "Media Consumption: Zoe Mode's Paul Mottram". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ "Crush". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ "Crush Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ a b Suttner, Nick (2007-05-29). "Reviews: Crush". 1UP. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ Orlando, Greg (August 2007). "Crush". G4TV. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ Harold, Charles (2007-06-16). "What if You Met the Enemy and It Really Was You, and Then It Happened Again". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ IGN PlayStation Team (2007-05-31). "PSP Game of the Month: May 2007". IGN. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ GameSpy Staff (December 2007). "GameSpy's Game of the Year 2007 - PSP Top 10". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
- ^ IGN Staff (December 2007). "IGN Best of 2007 - PSP". IGN. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
- ^ Boyer, Brandon (2007-07-26). "2007 Develop Industry Award Winners Announced". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-07-26.