Simply put, the best true platforming game to come out in YEARS. As you can immediately notice, the user scores are quite polarized, and I believe this is true to the nature of the game. If you find joy in surmounting difficult (But FAIR) platforming challenges, this game is the PERFECT game for you. Let me also state that the 10 I assigned this game was not some knee-jerk reaction to a merely clever indie game. This game is fantastic by ANY standard, it is perfectly executed. There is nothing in the game where I have ever said, man, I wish X existed. In a time where games like Fallout New Vegas and Civ 5 release with the swath of glitches and bugs in the game, it is refreshing to have a game ship out that is immensely bug free, it is absolutely precise. You may even grow to treat this precision as a foe, as there is a razor thin edge between success and death in each level, there is no "give", if you touch a deadly obstacle with any part of your hit-box, you can count on dying. However, this consistency gives rise to the games greatest achievement, the overall fairness of the game. I am astounded that I read other user reviews that actually complained about the controls, they are absolutely astounding. To be fair, I do use a Xbox360 controller, I could see that without one it may take longer to "pick up" but the controls are nevertheless, precise. The character becomes an extension of your will, you'll find sometimes that when an unexpected hazard appears, you react quickly and ably within fractions of a second, as if you were acting out of instinct. I am also disturbed to read some people claiming that this game's difficulty is just a mechanism to lengthen the game. I find it hard to believe we even played the same game. The levels are difficult to be sure, but they are absolutely fair, if you die, it is your fault, there are no invisible traps, your character will not move if you don't tell him to. And even if you die, the levels each can be completed in under a minute, so if you do die (and you will die, often) almost no progress is lost. You will not be spending 5 minutes just to get a chance to practice the spot you died at last time. The other reason I find this explanation difficult to believe is that there are over 300 levels. The game is already massive, it wouldn't need to be lengthened by unnecessary difficulty.
In short: A difficult platformer, but an absolute masterpiece if you are willing to take up the challenge.
10
10
