Sometimes games aren't meant to be impactful and full of heart, but rather just a fun time passer that provides a good challenge that shows that players always have room to improve their skill.
This months free PS Plus title Downwell by Moppin is the perfect game for this! Giving you a ton of enemies to fight through as you make your way down the well (hah, Downwell, I get it) and try to make it through all of the challenging zones!
Gameplay
You start the game on the surface and the only place to go is down a giant well. There are multiple zones that you have to get through and they are presented like everybody is accustomed to from childhood gaming; 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, etc.
As you make your way to the bottom with strategic falling, since if you fall too far down you can end up hitting enemies that can't be killed by jumping on them, there will be side areas with a half bubble covering them. Once you enter you will see that time stops and enemies freeze, but this is only while you are in this time laps bubble.
Each of these side bubbles will have a useful item in it or a shop where you can use the orbs you collect in order to purchase life points or power ups.
After you complete each section, you will be given the choice to pick between one of three or four power ups that will start next round, but stays with you throughout the rest of your play. At least until you die of course, which is not hard because you only get four hits!
Check our their original launch trailer:
Graphics
The game has very basic graphics with mostly everything being outlined or lightly filled in with color. The bricks are different from solid or cracked which shows that it can be shot through. My favorite thing is that the color scheme can be changed as you unlock more palette's to use, but it still is basically a two color scheme game.
Sound
The game has a repetitive, but not distracting, upbeat music that gives the game a good flow for the sense of wanting to go fast and provides the sense of being a hero fighting through danger. Fitting for a game that will require quite a bit of concentration on the actual gameplay!
Replayability
It is essentially the same game over and over since when you die you do have to start from the beginning. If there are checkpoints, they are a ways down the well because I didn't reach one and I got up to 4-1 before dying at one point. While this would seem repetitive, it just gives you more practice to try and do better! Plenty of reason to go back, unless you are at your peek skill level.
What Could Be Better
I would like a checkpoint to be at the end of each zone section so that I could just keep going and see how far down the well goes.
Final Verdict
A fun, challenging shooter that will prove to take time to master even though it was rather easy to learn what to do! Great addition to my library for sure!
"It's like Metroid and Tetris got together to make a time killing challenge game!"
