3volution - A Primordial Soup Challenge Review
PROS
- Surprisingly addictive.
- Combines high score gameplay with a sense of level progression.
CONS
- Bouncing around can be unwieldy.
- A lot of beneficial placement to continue is left up to luck.
VERDICT
An odd yet addictive high score cell bouncing game.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Why is the E in evolution turned around into a 3 for the sake of this title? Well because the whole concept of primordial evolution is apparently aided by three helpers named Nunstuck, Git, and Slotermeyer. 3Volution has you evolving through life forms in what amounts to sort of a high speed soccer game, complete with power-ups and obstacles creating an experience that can be unfair and over before you know it, but set up so that you instantly press retry to give the whole affair another chance.
The main gist of the game is to stretch one helper back, and aim it so that it either flies between the other two helpers creating a line, or it rebounds off a wall to accomplish the same action. It's basically a digital version of that game played in high school when you have a couple coins in your pocket. The good news is that the actual dragging and aiming work great. The bad news is that because of the physics, the helpers seem to have a mind of their own.
Really this is more the consequence of bad luck, but you have to wonder if the physics could be tweaked to allow the helpers to float around the game world a little more. It feels like it should have the lack of friction of say, an air hockey table, but it feels more like a normal surface. Regardless of how the physics work, you will have those times when it's near impossible to break through the line, so luckily the game gives you one failed attempt before it game overs on you.
As you play you'll run into obstacles that require some tricky rebounding, and power-ups that can remove these obstacles as well as grant other boons. The more you play, and the further you get, the more you work towards evolving the game creature, so there is a goal to work towards as well as seeing how long you can last.
3volution definitely has an addictive nature to it. The visuals are bright and colorful, and the sound pleasantly accompanies your flinging and rebounding experience. This is a great example of a time filler, and as long as some bad luck in helper placement doesn't ruin your experience, this is certainly worth a look.
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