Right! I realise I am WAY behind in reviews on this blog just now and its mainly down to being busy with other stuff going on, which has left less time for me to tinker about on here.
So, in order to make up for that I thought I would do a brand new review on a video game I have been playing on the PS4, which is N++, a platform game and sequel to N+.
So is it any good??? Well let's find out!
GAMEPLAY
Well I don't really need to worry about spoilers here as there is no story at all as such in N++ but the premise is very simple as the playable character is a small black ninja who must try and navigate through a series of levels loaded with lethal droids. And the droids are of a mixed variety as there are seeking missile droids, flying droids, ground-based droids, laser droids, rapid droids and lastly electric chasing droids, who can fry you with electricity on their touch.
The ninja must also be very wary of the environments he is in himself as he can find himself having to jump far between platforms or to jump very high and if he falls too far he can die. The ninja also has a healthbar that appears on the top of the screen, which will gradually reduce unless he picks up pieces of gold, which are found scattered throughout every level although there are varying degrees of gold to be found in the game.
The ninja however can use his incredible speed to perform a series of wall jumps that can raise himself to platforms over a greater distance. You also have great control over the sensitivity of the ninja's movements when he runs or jumps and you can even get him to gently slide down the side of walls to prevent falling too soon.
And new to the N++ are the mines, which for some reason are raspberry coloured(!) and the ninja must avoid them at all costs or he will be blown to bits. There are also moments in the game where the ninja move over dormant mines that will come active after he has stepped over them and in some levels the mines are so prevalent they are almost impossible to avoid!
The game also has a host of additional options to chose from and you have the choice to play co-op levels, race levels where you will be timed, create your own new levels and even get online access to check out new levels other people have created. However most of these new levels are an absolute bastard to complete as I tried a few of them and they were pretty much impossible! So whoever has been designing these levels must have some weird fetish for sadism!
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
As for the graphics well the game's graphics follow suit to the visuals of N+ and the game looks very similar with its very simplistic big blocky designs for the environments and the somewhat very small design for the droids and other enemies not to mention the ninja himself (but I will say more about him in a bit!). However despite the basic look of the graphics, its still quite a stylish game in its presentation as the level designs can be quite imaginative and varied in their shapes.
Moving onto the game's sounds, well they are pretty good and fairly simplistic with just a series of bleeping noises for the ninja when he collects gold and the other sounds are purely gunfire, crashing noises, electrocution noises (for when the ninja get's zapped by a droid!). Again the sounds a pretty minimal but they are very well suited to the game all the same and fit for their purpose.
FLAWS
So...flaws....yes OK, N++ does have some and to start off it has to be said the biggest problem I have with the game is just how SMALL the ninja appears on the screen! I mean the guy is absolutely tiny and there were literally some levels where I couldn't even guess to where to look to find the ninja on the screen as he appears as just a tiny blip! So this for me is a real design flaw in the game as not even in N+ was the ninja THIS small!
Another issue I have with the game is to do with the incredibly garish colour schemes available for the game other than the standard "Vasquez" colour scheme available, which to be honest is the only decent one of the lot! The other colour schemes are a horrendous mix of the likes of purple, bright red, green, etc and they would be sure to give you a series migraine just to look at them! In fact its all too easy to hit the L2 button on my PS4 to change the colour scheme without you even wanting to!
And lastly another issue is to do with the uneven level of difficulty in the levels as there are some levels, which are quite easy but then there are others that are brutally difficult. Now I'm not against the idea of the tougher levels as some of them are great fun but I find the way in which some really hellish levels are thrown in among some easy ones make it a bit uneven rather than giving a series of pretty tough ones all at once. To be fair though the game is not short on choice when it comes to levels and there is no more than enough to keep you occupied.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So in summing up, N++ is a very enjoyable sequel to N+ and it is packed with loads of levels to keep you going whether you are a single player or playing co-op or are even trying out some of the new levels. Yes there are a few issues with the game with its hideously garish alternate colour schemes and also the difficulty level of the some of the levels is frankly ridiculous.
However if you are willing to overlook that then N++ is still well worth taking a look at and there is plenty to choose from in this game as its variety and sense of fun (even if its twisted!) is what makes it worth playing.
Right! So that's it for now and I will hopefully get another review done over the weekend or before November comes in.
So, till the next one its bye for now!
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