Tinertia Ups the Bar for Rocket Jumping
Regular jumps are not allowed here: the zany platformer is out now!
Two buttons, two functions. The rest is just rockets.
If you're wondering, yes that was a reference for The 7th Guest. This review, however, has nothing to do with that old (but good) puzzle game, and everything to do with rockets. Tinertia, the latest creation between Candescent Games and Section Studios uses two buttons. One for an air dash, the other for a level reset. The right-hand joystick is used for shooting rockets. You don't jump. That's it.
I'd imagine some might be furious over not being able to jump. I remember the backlash people gave Nintendo when they discovered that Link couldn't manually jump for Ocarina of Time. Instead, players had to run towards an edge at the correct angle and Link would auto-jump. Well, there's no jump in Tinertia; players can only launch the little robot (Weldon) they control in the air with rockets. The goal is to rocket Weldon through each level on the deserted robot planet and defeat the evil ARC, or else Weldon will turn into a pile of bolts. After awhile my mind actually forgot that there wasn't a jumping button and I stopped pressing reset, instead relying on my right joystick to launch me wherever I needed to go—up walls, across crevices and over obstacles.
Some might say that's easy enough, but what I didn't mention is that the environments aren't friendly. Insta-kill surfaces. Lasers. Green goo that isn't kind to touch. Lava. Destructible surfaces. Giant metal-eating monsters that hunger after you. Yes, it's easy to jump with a rocket, but it's not easy avoiding the world and all the deathtraps that are packed within the 70+ levels to play through. I found myself launching through hallways armed with lasers that armed in half a second. Navigating these traps is key, but each level requires more than just navigation. Speed is at the core of the game and it serves a dual purpose here.
This game will certainly turn the heads for speedrun junkies, as there are "par" averages and speedrun goals for each level. For casual platform gamers, just having a speedrun function and par goal for every level might knock the game a bit in terms of replay value, but there are some unlockable skins for the gamers that have to win everything unlockable. Be prepared to put up a fight, however, as this game is more about "die"-al and error instead of trial and error, especially during the boss levels where navigation and speed go hand-in-hand. To add, there's a leaderboard to see if your "level score" is the best amongst the players in the entire world.
Because of the game's simple (yet fun) nature, releases have been planned across several platforms including Xbox One, PS4, Steam, Macintosh, and Linux! Grab it on Steam now as it's 20% off until September 10th.
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