Review: The Incident - Watch Out For Falling Rocks And More
by Staff Writer
August 11, 2010
Overview
Something terrible has happened known as the incident which has caused everything to be thrown at you from above including the kitchen sink. You tilt to dodge, tap to jump, and combined try to climb up the ever mounting pile of objects. The Incident is a retro inspired game with 8-bit graphics, and is a universal app for all idevice owners to play.
Features
As more items fall in, they stack allowing you to climb upwards, and there are flags along the way to act as checkpoints. There are seven levels on your ascent from the street and the city up to the atmosphere and space. There is an indicator to show where each new item will drop, and there are trophies and achievements for being killed by certain objects.
The Good
The game is simple to pick up and enjoy, but tougher to put down. Once you start dodging random objects, and climbing on top of a stack of objects you'll be hooked. It's plenty of fun as there is nonstop action, and an always shifting play area.
The objects you will see are hilarious from the mundane chest of drawers, couch, and fridge to the insane tiki totem, top of a Greek temple, and sarcophagus. As the items increase in number they begin to stack, and there is a nice physics engine that has them shift and balance appropriately. You can interact with the items as well whether you're pushing them or trying to get out from underneath them.
The game isn't simply dodging and climbing as there are a number of pick-ups along the way. There are coins to collect as well as power-ups including extra life, shield, and health plus power-downs like the ancient curse. The game style itself will keep you coming back for more, but there are also checkpoints and levels to have you actually progressing to an end point. It's more than just another retro inspired casual endless game.
The 8-bit style is classic retro goodness that creates a nice theme for the game, and is well designed. It's great seeing so many different objects falling from the sky all in 8-bit style. Not only do you see the items, but there are appropriate smashing sounds for each one highlighted by glass smashing, and dropped piano. The soundtrack is also in 8-bit, and is action packed to fit the game style well.
The Bad
The gameplay mechanic is still repetitive despite traveling through different levels with different backgrounds. It's still the same dodging and climbing which does get stale after a little bit. Like a few other games with a simple mechanic you still find yourself playing it despite the repetitiveness.
It would be nice to see alternate game modes to add even a little bit more to the replay factor. The game let's you earn all kinds of lives which seem rather pointless as health points you need much more. You will never run out of lives so it's foolish to be able to stockpile them so easy, and also you can lose them all if you go back to the main menu.
The Verdict
The Incident is a new retro inspired simple action game that will keep you coming back for more. The basics are easy to understand, but there are plenty of challenges on your ascent as you climb a wobbly stack with incoming objects all the time. The game is nicely designed with the retro style, and it's fun on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
For $1.99 The Incident is a should buy, but just watch out for falling rocks.
