Flash Game Reviews: Don't Look Back

Don’t Look Back is a flash game by Terry Cavanagh of Distractionware. I played this game a few years back when it first came out and loved it. Revisiting it today has made me realise why I loved it. This game is just a brilliant piece of work.

The game tells the story of a guy going to the underworld to rescue what can only be presumed to be his wife. It’s fairly obvious this is an adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus travelling to the underworld to get his wife, Eurydice, who recently died. The story of the game isn’t the same as this, with the main character blasting his way through the depths of Hades rather than using beautiful music to charm the god of the underworld.

The story is well told, but this is done simplistically and in a minimalistic style. This simplistic storytelling is especially effective when reaching the end of the game, which comes around abruptly, with an empty feeling. This seems to suit the game tonally, with no ultimate conclusion, leaving the ending up to the player’s interpretation.

The actual gameplay is frustrating as hell. This is due to its Megaman style platforming, requiring precise timing and jumps. You may repeat the same screen twenty times, but you persevere, pushing forwards. On top of this, on the final stretch of the game you are not allowed to turn around, so moving forwards has to be an exact science otherwise you’ll have to play that section again.

Though frustrating, the game isn’t unforgiving. The most you really have to replay when dying is around 2 screens, which is no large feat. Also, whilst some bosses are difficult at first there is a trick to each one that is fairly easy to figure out (though the comments on Kongregate make it seem the people are incapable of understanding how to defeat the Cerberus boss).

With fun, but frustrating, gameplay and a gripping and emotional story, Don’t Look Back is a game I don’t even hesitate to recommend. It’s absolutely beautiful, with an amazing aesthetic and brilliant sound design (I have now downloaded the soundtrack). Play this game when you can. It isn’t very long, so won’t require a massive commitment, but the time you spend on it is totally worth it.

Flash Game Reviews: Shift

In my mid-teens I played a lot of Flash games. They were free and could often be amazing. In fact, I have played some Flash games which were far superior to most console games I’ve played. Some Flash games you could tell were a labour of love and others you knew were just shat out for one reason or another. These reviews on Flash games are my tribute to the people who made these games and caused me to spend a lot of my time playing them.

One of the biggest names in Flash games is Armor Games, the company that annoys me and my spellchecker because it is spelled with the American version of “armour.” In 2008 a game was released by “Tony” (Antony Lavelle) who makes games for the site. This game is Shift.

Shift has no real story. It’s a puzzle platformer. You are Subject 32763 and you must get from the first screen to the last by puzzle platforming. That’s pretty much it. The entire premise of the game. But that’s fine. With my Flash games I don’t require deep story or anything, I want a fun game to play.

And fun it is! As it’s a puzzle platformer you obvious jump from one platform to another and the puzzle aspect is trying to figure out how to get there. The way this is achieved is so simple yet so ingenious. Just press the Shift key. When you do that the level turns around 180 degrees and your character goes upright in this new level. So where you would initially have this:

all you have to do is press Shift and you get this:

 and then you can complete the level and go onto the next. So simple, yet so clever. It also makes for some very interesting ways to solve the level.

To advance to the next level you need to get to the door, but sometimes you will have platforms blocking you. To get these out of the way all you need to do is collect one of the various keys on the level and you’ll have a path set out for you. Again, simple but effective.

The look of this game is also great. The simple black and white motif allows you to instantly recognise which part of the level you are on. Also, the simplicity just suits the game itself. It’s a simple game that plays amazingly.

The music playing in the background is great too. Very simplistic but fun and it fully immerses you in the game itself. The entire game has a cheek about it, constantly throwing insults and jokes at you and... wait a second. It’s Portal. This game has been influenced by Portal!

A simple puzzle platformer that is still somewhat challenging and has great audio, simplistic visuals and some omnipresent entity that mocks you. It even has a “The cake is a lie” thing going on!

Well, the game seems aware it’s influenced by Portal. I’ll give it that, though the references to Portal do annoy me (as they do with most games). But even if it is influenced by Portal I don’t mind. Some of the greatest things out there are almost directly influenced by other great things. And this game is great! I really advise playing it if you haven’t already. It isn’t a very long game, but it is worth it if you have a few minutes spare.

Plus, this game is great for another thing: it has brilliant sequels!

Final Verdict: 8/10