Cubetractor Review
Cubetractor surprised the hell out of me in the best possible way. I had no idea what to expect while loading it up, as I had heard next to nothing about this charming little indie puzzler from two-man developer, Ludochip. So, with the intention of playing a quick few minutes just out of curiosity, I dived head-first into the unknown. And 3 hours later, I was still there.
It just played so well it was hard to stop. But that’s not to say it isn’t a little strange at first. It’s part reverse tower defense, part platforming, and part bullet dodger, but nothing really accurately describes it. The closest relative could be Pixel Junk Monsters, and while there are certain similarities, it’s still quite different. Your little robotic avatar, Endroi, has the sole ability to pull cubes towards itself – a somewhat suicidal talent – and by colliding different combinations of cubes you construct towers to destroy the entrenched enemy. Sure it may sound simple enough, but, and maybe it’s just me, only being able to pull objects without the ability to push them seems very unnatural and is slightly infuriating and downright dangerous at times. But it does offer a unique constraint, and it becomes second nature after a very short time.
The range of towers that can be birthed by joining two amorous cubes isn’t exactly expansive, but each has its own strengths. Standard offensive structures include the laser cannon, the rapid fire beam towers and the homing rocket-launching spires, while your defensive capabilities include barriers, decoy towers to distract enemy fire and power-plants that boost your other constructs’ fire-rate. It’s rather simplistic take on the tower defense arsenal but by reversing the genre it takes on a life of its own. Arriving to each new level with the enemy bots already set up and fortified, the challenge comes from correctly managing your limited resources. With a finite amount of cubes and tower types, finding the correct order and placement is crucial, while at the same time you’re dodging a barrage of bullets from the opposing force. It can get pretty hectic at times, but never overwhelming.
A loose narrative, involving the little blue bot’s quest to master cubetracting, takes you across twelve main levels, called ‘Examinations’, each withup to four branching side missions. Upon completing a level a star rating is given depending on how well you performed. Along the way you are introduced to a number of other automatons that provide just the right amount of pre-level bickering, mainly centring on how blissfully unaware Endroi is of how much havoc it is causing. A new tower is unlocked or a new skill is learned usually at each level and it does a good job of keeping things interesting right up until the end. Unfortunately, the end comes far too quickly. The game could be completed in about 4-5 hours without out too much stress and after that there is not much to bring you back. Only the obsessive compulsive types would revisit each level to collect all the stars, and even that wouldn’t take long. But considering it’s a little indie game, I’ll overlook that shortcoming.
Of course, an indie game wouldn’t be and indie game if it didn’t have retro graphics. And while Cubetractor dons the 16-bit pixel-covered robes, it’s a bit slicker than the rest. Everything from the menu screen to the character movement is snappy and responsive. The aesthetics are bright, colourful, simplistic and perfectly suited to the gameplay. The audio follows suit but the musical elements can become tiresome, particularly when you find yourself stumped by a puzzle. But at least it can be switched off independent of the sound effects.
VERDICT: So is Cubetractor worth your hard earned cash? Yes it definitely is. It’s fast, fun and engaging and what it lacks in length it makes up for in playability. The puzzles are well thought-out, the core mechanics are honed and the difficulty curve is very even over the course of the game. It may not go down in history as an instant classic, but Ludochip’s take on the tower defense genre could provide an interesting base for future titles in the series.
VERY GOOD. An 8/10 is only awarded to a game we consider truly worthy of your hard-earned cash. This game is only held back by a smattering of minor or middling issues and comes highly recommended.
