BlueMaxima is our most prolific Reader Review writer. He plays the PS Vita games so you don’t have to! I’m only kidding! I’m actually very keen on the game he is reviewing today, Gravity Rush. I’ve heard nothing but good things. Click on to see what Mr Maxima thought of the game…
Gravity Rush
Gravity Rush is one of the first original IPs for the PlayStation Vita, and it has a huge role to fill. Will it rise to become a landmark title that can show the value and power of Sony’s new console, or will it fall by the wayside?
Loved
In a (Gravity) Daze: The main mechanic in Gravity Rush is the ability to fly through the air in any direction through an open world. And it’s on a portable device. And it is absolutely incredible. It’s possible to spend several hours just floating around exploring the huge overworld, finding gems to upgrade your dozen or so abilities and plenty of challenge missions. The challenges and story missions are anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes so it’s easy to pick up and play at any time – perfect for a portable game. This game is designed incredibly well for what the Vita is.
Style That Resists Downfall: Gravity Rush looks visually incredible, with a huge overworld that loads in nearly seamlessly. The cities look great and have plenty of decoration. Several story missions often break the style with out-there levels such as in an inferno or in space which are just as nice to look at. The soundtrack is often amazing, with some of the overworld themes never becoming boring even after an hour of searching for every last gem.
An Uplifting Story: Throughout the main game you’ll learn about plenty of different characters in this world slowly sinking to its inevitable doom, and for the most part it’s incredibly enjoyable, with a few twists and a fairly long set of missions to play. The unfortunate downside is that it ends rather quickly and leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but it’s a really fun ride while it lasts.
Hated
Falling Control Accuracy: For a fair amount of the time, the controls work fine, but when you get into challenge missions which require a lot of precision, they tend to slip up. Gravity sliding is the worst of all, with a lot of slamming into walls and random jumps. Stasis fields (picking up objects/humans) can sometimes refuse to work at all. Your ground kick combo is mostly useless, and gravity kicks tend to have an unreliable lock on that can be thrown off by a creature flapping its wings or moving a single step. The camera can often be a pain when shifting directions multiple times and small movement objectives for things like races can tend to be a lot smaller than they appear on screen. Most of these issues can be worked around but it’s missing a layer of polish I would have expected in a game based around gravity shifting.
Even with the issues with the controls, Gravity Rush is an absolutely incredible. A landmark title with amazing gameplay, presentation and story values, and is definitely a must-buy if you own a Vita, and it might even be the title to convince you to buy a Vita in the first place. I hope to god you’ve gone out and bought it already.
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