Platform gaming has been a genre that has stood the test of time over the years and even today people still can have a blast with the simple mechanics of these games. What is amazing however is how much the genre has evolved from simply making your way through various levels of difficulty by hopping on ledges, enemies or whatever the game has in store for you. INK is a game that proves that platformers still have some tricks up their sleeves by introducing something new and delightfully fun. Levels start out as a blank canvas and your little white square must make it's way to the rainbow colored goal in order to move forward. The trick is that until you start moving and splattering paint from your body you won't be able to see any of the obstacles that lay before you. By the end of most levels you are left with a ink splattered tapestry of your own creation.
At first glance things seemed a bit perplexing as you starred at the empty black void that most levels begin as but by the end you have an entire hidden world laid out before your eyes, a world that you brought to life. There is no way of knowing just what awaits you in each level of the game until you use your little white cubes abilities to unravel it. By moving in any direction you will leave a Gary the Snail style trail of colors that seep into the structures around you to let you see the shape of the structures you find yourself on. You also have a jump and a double jump which splatters paint from your wobbly body in all different directions. This is the most important feature as it sends paint flying everywhere to allow you to gauge what could possibly be waiting to explode your entire body into tiny paint blobs. Yes, even death has it's benefits, although the games achievements mock you slightly for dying, death also gives you insight into what dangers each level features by spreading paint in all directions just as your double jump does.
It isn't half as frightening as it sounds to go through the levels with no idea what may be waiting for you as you will begin to gain expectations for the level layouts the more you play along with your Super Meat Boy-esque character. INK is not without it's tricks and various ideas though as the levels begin to evolve the more you begin to get use to your environment. Spikes, enemy paint beings and other obstacles such as moving platforms shake up the dynamic and ratchet up the puzzle solving element. I cannot tell you how freaked out I was when I jumped into a moving platform level where an enemy was shooting triangle blasts at me, all the while I never knew where my next safe platform would be. It can be quite panic inducing to be honest but that's what makes platformers so much fun to begin with, the sweat and relief you get from a particularly difficult level layout.
That being said, INK does have it's fair share of iffy controls that make death feel a little undeserved. Patience is key with these types of games but even the most seasoned gamer will get fed up with a level once they've tried it over and over again and so they begin to rush into levels hoping to get through them quicker. This is a problem for this game though as countless times I have rushed into a level and had my double jump already go off and I end up falling of the ledge to an immediate death. This can be chocked up to my own impatience but the games controls do feel quite slidey when often times you need precise movements for a platforming game. Use of a controller was something that I found to help with the controls and my repeated sliding movements but they still occurred from time to time and that did not help my rage meter in the least.
Despite this issue, INK is a delightfully creative game that has made it's way onto my Steam shelf. There is something deeply enjoyable about starting each new level, you have a completely blank canvas before you and you bring it to life by jumping, sliding and exploding your way through it. The movements may take some getting use to but this simple and innovative game capture my imagination from start to finish.
Good:
- Innovative platform game
- Creating your very own unique levels through appealing color pallets
- Unique levels to explore and create with your tiny square paint brush
Bad:
- Character movement could use some work, movements tend to be very slidey
Scully Rating: 8.7 out of 10
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