Tumble
Overview
Platform: PS3Tumble is a style stack-em-up for the PS3′s new motion controller. Move aside toddlers this is building blocks for grown-ups!
Absorbing, tense and addictive – How a game that is fundamentally a preschool building block game is all of these is something that took me some time to get my head around but that is exactly what Tumble is.
Using the Move controller you must stack blocks on top of a starting platform attempting to build as high as you can, or on occasions, use a predefined number of block. These are the two fundamental game types Tumble has to offer but occasionally you will use mines to topple pre-built towers, mirrors to bounce lasers around immovable objects to an endpoint or construct towers that must withstand varying environmental effects.
Tumble’s controls are very simple. You use the trigger button to pickup and place objects and while holding the trigger and flicking the move controller you can flip the object on the X and Y axis. You are able to place the block anywhere you like in 3D space. All controller actions are represented almost one-to-one on screen. Moving up, down, left, right and rotating are all replicated in the 3D space. To move/ pickup and drop objects that are in the distance you must almost reach into the screen by moving towards the camera. The ‘Move’ button controls camera placement and other face buttons allow you to zoom out and re-center the move pointer.
However the controls aren’t perfect. If you move the controller outside of the cameras field of vision you can find the object you are holding being dropped, or alternatively, when the camera relocates the controller it will snap the pointer back to the center of the screen. This can cause catastrophic results for your tower if you are holding an object. But the biggest issue is when the onscreen move controller obstructs your sight at a moment when you are precisely attempting to gently place a block.
But the major area where Tumble is lacking is character. The game is very cold and sterile; from the monotone, disembodied female voice comments on your actions, to the empty blank science laboratory setting used for each game.
The game does feature competitive and cooperative multiplayer using challenges from the single player mode, but with no leaderboards or progressive statistic tracking the modes longevity is short. Tumble could easily provide thirty minutes of party entertainment but it’s just a shame you can’t play with more than two people.
The 50 plus levels are varied enough that you will overlook any controller niggles and strive to achieve gold medals in every level. It’s hard to get around the fact that Tumble is just a game about stacking blocks but if you enjoy a good puzzle game with friends and you’re an early adopter of PlayStation Move, Tumble is well worth the tenner asking price.
Mark Craven
I need to get round to playing this, It was quite fun … when it worked.
I enjoyed Tumble when I tried the demo. The sterility of the presentation is off-putting, so its a good job that the basic gameplay works so well.