Cubixx is the Qix of the future! Read on to find out more…
Cubixx: You can see what’s inside!
If you’re of a certain age you’ll remember a game called Qix. The aim of the game was to fill in the playing screen by using your little diamond cursor that had the ability to move around the outsides of the screen. Holding a button would enable you to draw a line and move into the playing area, where you simply needed to touch a wall to fill in the playing area. You could deviate and draw shapes or dart out and back to virtually the same spot, drawing a small rectangle if you so desired. The reason you may have wanted to adopt these tactics was because all the time you were trying to fill in the playing area, there were a mass of lines, think along the lines of a Richter scale graph, chasing you and if they touched one of your trailing lines, you would lose a life.
Well after that lengthy explanation, you’re ready for Cubixx, which takes the principles of Qix, but instead of applying them to one playing field, your playing area is now a cube, replete with six playing areas. To represent this ante up, we have a techno soundtrack as your musical accompaniment just to add a little bit more pressure…
There are two goals when playing through Cubixx, the first is to complete the level by cutting away a certain volume of the cube (essentially the same as filling in shapes in Qix) and secondly to score as many points as possible. By completing the first goal, you’ll naturally do better with the second however the game encourages you to be more adventurous with your cutting to obtain better scores. Cutting a line across multiple faces of the cube will give you a score modifier, increasing for each cube side you cut across. Points are only calculated when you stop cutting, so to get the big scores with the large modifiers, you’re encouraged to make a continual cut, only finishing if you absolutely have to, or if you die. Losing a life also means losing any potential points, so it’s a calculated risk, but mandatory if you want to climb the leader board.
This game mechanic is essential to Cubixx and forms the basis of your entire experience. Thankfully it’s very well implemented and you’ll be constantly looking ahead to other faces of the cube as to ensure your cut will be perfect. Disappointingly for a game so focussed on achieving high scores, there’s no sort of online leaderboard, meaning that you’re only ever competing with the developer scores and then your own ability. Whilst it’s great to see your own continual progress, it would have been nice to see how you shape up to the rest of the world.
As you move through different sides of the cube, the camera naturally rotates so that you can always see your heat dot. Whilst there is nothing cut away from the cube, the camera works perfectly well; once you do start to slice open the cube, things become a little harder to control. The game demands pixel perfect accuracy when move along the edges of cuts and you’ll often miss a corner because you pressed ‘up’ a fraction too late. Likewise, the camera doesn’t always behave how you’d expect it to, so you may miss a vital junction because the camera swung left when you were about to press ‘up’. Whilst these criticisms may appear as minor faults, when you’re playing a game as fast in tempo as Cubixx, a single fault can result in the end of a life and the loss of a points modifier.
Cubixx: Cutting Shapes
Cubixx is an enjoyable game, especially if you were a fan of Qix, but it gets very difficult, very quickly. By level five you’ll be experiencing faster moving enemies, including enemies that chase you along the frame of the cube. This all adds to the experience of the game and coupled with the techno soundtrack, keeps the pressure up and builds atmosphere. I could perceive this as a deterrent to some players; the difficulty proving intimidating and the upper reaches of the game becoming impenetrable. For those that like a challenge and a puzzler, this difficulty curve can provide a real hook.
The difficulty of Cubixx also makes the game more suitable for portable play. The average playing time will only be around five minutes, meaning that if you have a few minutes to spare, you can spend it on Cubixx and similarly if you don’t want to invest a significant period in a gaming session, Cubixx is there for you. Cubixx lends itself very well to the get up and go dynamic of portable gaming.
Cubixx is a nifty little puzzler wrapped into a tidy package. It’s got stylish looks, a great soundtrack and addictive gameplay. There are a few camera and control issues from time to time and it can be nightmarishly difficult, but essentially it has that addictive hook that’ll keep you coming back time and again.
SCORE: 8/10
Source:
http://wireless-gaming.co.uk/2013/02/02/cubixx-review/