Stay Alight HD iPad Review
PROS
- Hauntingly beautiful yet creepy world.
- There's an elegance is the methodical throwing of the light.
CONS
- Another physics-flinger in the mould of Angry Birds.
VERDICT
Though it may be style over substance, it's a solid physics-puzzler presented in a unique fashion.
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Remember the years immediately after Angry Birds was released? You know: when almost every other game was a physics-flinger? We guess it's been a while since then, as playing a game like Stay Alight - which takes the mechanics that Angry Birds popularised and wraps them up in creepy yet beautiful world - is almost a novelty. The question is, can excellent presentation make up for all-too familiar gameplay?
Stay Alight comes with an environmental message. Pollution is the source of this eerie world's problems. This scourge is represented by slimy green monsters which are taking over the landscapes. What better way to remove these scourges than by having balls of light thrown at them by an anthropomorphic light bulb?
The gameplay fits the classic physics-flinger mould. You have a limited supply of ammunition which you can launch at your unclean enemies. By adjusting power and trajectory of your shot, you can arc your glowing projectiles over obstacles, making use of the environment to crush nasties which are out of your eyeline. Your luminescent ammo is in no hurry, and watching it slowly glide towards its prey is a little mesmerising.
The levels that you find yourself in are quite beautiful - in a grimy sort of way. The atmosphere generated by the moody, ruined landscapes are slightly undercut by what are fairly 'run of the mill' game mechanics, however.
If it's been a while since you played a physics flinger, by all means give Stay Alight a crack. Its mechanics are solid enough, and the audio/visual experience is faily unique. Those looking for the next step forward in this genre are not going to find it here. If there isn't a shake up sometime soon, the future of these games might not be as bright as this game predicts.
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