{"id":13126,"date":"2018-02-17T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/torquel_-physics_modified_edition-"},"modified":"2018-02-17T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-17T15:00:00","slug":"review-torquel-physics-modified-edition-switch-eshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/02\/17\/review-torquel-physics-modified-edition-switch-eshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: TorqueL -Physics Modified Edition- (Switch eShop)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87948\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87948\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch DS Torque LPhysics Modified Edition 03\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Standing out from the crowd of games on the Switch\u2019s eShop right now is a very challenging task indeed; countless indie developers have flocked to the console to show their support and generate sales of their games, and the digital store\u2019s user interface doesn\u2019t really offer much help to lost customers. On gameplay ideas alone, however, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/torquel_-physics_modified_edition-\">TorqueL -Physics Modified Edition-<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0manages to pop its head over the masses by providing a puzzler experience with an interestingly unique control style. So is it worth checking out?<\/p>\n<p>In theory, TorqueL consists of a very simple concept; you must move your character \u2013 who is standing inside a movable box \u2013 from \u2018point A\u2019 to \u2018point B\u2019. In practice, though, this isn\u2019t as easy as it looks; while a flick of your control stick will move the box left and right, you\u2019ll need to manipulate the four coloured sides of the box, extending and retracting them, to fling yourself around each level in what quickly becomes a physics-based moment of madness. You can use the sides to boost yourself upwards, prevent yourself from landing on any fatal sections, or even to pull yourself up and around certain ledges.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87950\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87950\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch DS Torque LPhysics Modified Edition 04\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Each side of the box is mapped to one of your four face buttons \u2013 A, B, X, and Y. When the box is standing upright this is rather easy to understand as the sides follow the same shape as the four buttons (with \u2018B\u2019 being down, \u2018X\u2019 being up); when the box has been flipped over to a random side, however, trying to work out which button is needed to extend which colour becomes incredibly difficult, especially during any intense platforming sections. On other consoles the sides are coloured in the same way as the buttons on the controller and, while the Switch version rather cutely uses the SNES\u2019 famous button layout, the lack of button colour on Joy-Con and Pro Controllers means that you lose the instant connection between button and control.<\/p>\n<p>The game has 50 levels to explore, although individual runs won\u2019t see each and every one of them. As you make your way over the spinning platforms, gravity-defying holograms, and red pools of grizzly doom, you\u2019ll eventually start to notice that certain levels have two exits. Depending on the exits you choose to take, you\u2019ll find yourself going on different \u2018routes\u2019 through the game, often skipping various levels in the process. If you want to see everything that the game has to offer, you\u2019ll need to do several run-throughs to explore every last room.<\/p>\n<p>The main problem with TorqueL, though, is that it never really goes anywhere; the obstacles remain the same throughout the entire game, each level feels a little too similar to the last, and while impressive at first, the control scheme never has the chance to truly evolve or show itself off throughout the game\u2019s steady progression. The levels get trickier the further you get, but for the most part this feels more frustrating than fun.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87952\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87952\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch DS Torque LPhysics Modified Edition 05\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>As well as this, there are a couple of areas where the game is held back to its overall detriment. In a similar way to games such as <strong><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/super_meat_boy\">Super Meat Boy<\/a><\/strong>, deaths are a very common occurrence during most levels but, unlike Team Meat\u2019s gruelling platformer, the time it takes for you to re-spawn after each death here kills any adrenaline or momentum you had before. There is also a clock that tells you how long your entire run has taken through each chapter, providing an incentive to speedrun the whole game, but the often unpredictable nature of the controls makes this slightly too infuriating to attempt.<\/p>\n<p>The game\u2019s visuals get the job done but are rather bland overall; it\u2019s nice that there are no distracting elements on screen, allowing you to focus on your run, but it feels like a little more character may have given the game that little bit extra. The soundtrack is particularly interesting in theory, too, but doesn\u2019t quite work in practice; electronic music plays as you roll, coming to a halt whenever you stop moving, and rolling backwards makes the track play in reverse which is a clever touch, but this stop-start quality starts to get pretty tiring after a short while as it never changes.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87949\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87949\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"NSwitch DS Torque LPhysics Modified Edition 02\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Overall, then, TorqueL was designed with an intriguing, and potentially promising, idea, but it isn\u2019t given the chance to be fully explored. Understanding the concept is simple, and anyone will be able to give the game a go, but ultimately it often feels like you\u2019ll be just as likely to progress through the levels by spamming the buttons and hoping for the best, rather than spending time trying to work out which side of your box should be used. It would be interesting to see the idea developed further, especially if it could be used in conjunction with other mechanics and gameplay scenarios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Standing out from the crowd with a unique, physics-based control scheme is all well and good but, by restricting its usage to just one simple idea, the game feels like it needs to be developed further to truly shine. The mechanics are undoubtedly interesting, and they\u2019ll pique your curiosity at first, but after several levels players will be craving something new and that unfortunately never comes. Not a bad way to idly pass the time, then, but not something to shout home about either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Standing out from the crowd of games on the Switch\u2019s eShop right now is a very challenging task indeed; countless indie developers have flocked to the console to show their support and generate sales of their games, and the digital store\u2019s user interface doesn\u2019t really offer much help to lost customers. On gameplay ideas alone, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}