Gish

The finalist of the 2004 Independent Games Festival, don't you know...

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I've used the word gish on many a previous occasion but not in the way I am going to use it for this review. I've used the word gish in relation to sobriety, as it's a colloquialism for being drunk, as in 'I was totally gished when I was a pilot'. It's also used derogatively, as in 'astrology is a load of gish'. But from now on when I use the word gish I shall be referring to a glob of tar who has to enter the long-lost underground city of Dross to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend Brea. Undesirably, dross means 'a load of rubbish' round these parts, so before I'd even started playing the game my head was subtly filling with less than positive thoughts.

Fortunately Gish is a pleasant platform game at its core. This finalist of the 2004 Independent Games Festival is old-skool action all the way. In fact, Gish could easily have been made twenty years ago if it weren't for the attractive graphics and music. Now as any true gamer will know good games aren't all about technology and flashy images but rather solid gameplay coupled with bags of entertainment. However this core is orbited by a selection of sub games which can be as much fun in their own right.

The other modes offer a lot of extra playful variety. Sumo is a simple pushing contest on a tilting platform and is probably the most entertaining of the modes. Football (Ahem, 'American Football' - Ed) is a tarriush variation without any of the rules of the gridiron, other than 7 points for a TD or 3 for a field goal. Greed is all about being the player with the most collected amber when the timer runs down. The Pit Fight lets you get rough with your opponents as you try to squish them to death on the pit's spikes. Finally there is the dragster event, a simple race to the finish line.

The graphics are cute and have just enough flair in them to rise themselves above the functional tag. The palette often feels a bit too restricted, and the number of colours on screen doesn't seem to stretch to the full compliment of 32-bit depth. Although the visuals would benefit from some more intensity there's enough variety and good art on display to keep the eyeballs content. The animation is very good and there are some nice parallax scrolling techniques too. The static screenshots don't really do the game justice, especially in relation to Gish's incredibly convincing gelatinous-blobbienss.

The tar undulates in a very convincing fashion and the collision detection of the constantly changing surface is spot on. The physics coding on display here is rather remarkable and is so well joined with the graphics that the player finds themselves controlling a totally unique kind of game character. The puzzles that make up the obstacles Gish must overcome really take advantage of this, with all kinds of different layouts requiring a deft combination of Gish's many abilities to navigate the way through to the level's end. So Gish can not only roll along but a press of a key will make him go all super-sticky, which allows him to adhere to vertical surfaces. He can then roll up walls and even stick onto ceilings. He can make himself extra dense so he breaks down block obstacles as well as sink lower in some of the murkier water sections. Gish can also make himself slick, allowing him to squeeze through tight gaps. And of course he can jump.

Jumping takes some practice as you have to time it just right. Gish will bounce highest if the space bar is released when he at his most compact, so timing is all important. You can even use corners to propel yourself into hard-to-reach nooks. Block pushing is another common action that Gish will perform. Not only can he shove things around but by rolling backwards after adhering to a block he can roll it onto his back and then move it around or even do a power throw. As he goes through the levels Gish will have to deal with health-depleting spikes and monsters. In Super Mario fashion these baddies can get the squish treatment if Gish lands on them just right. There are some health packs to top up the damage Gish takes as well as amber blobs to collect. These go towards upping your score, which is recorded in a welcome high-score table. There are also a smattering of secret areas through the game to discover, all adding to the impressive sense of completeness that you get when experiencing Gish's enjoyable gameplay.

The main game is a diverting play rather than anything I would call essential. For an independently developed title it is all put together extremely well and the number of play options puts even the most expensive EA title to shame. For your money you will get a lot of game. To go along with the main game and the sub-games there's also a collection mode where the objective is to collect as much amber as possible, and a play room where you can just muck about and get to grips with the intricacies of Gish's abilities.

My only real reservation with Gish is the simplicity of the gameplay and the fact that, despite the unique physical properties of the character it is still a 2D platform/puzzle game. The huge number of options really do make Gish very good value for money, but unless you are a fan of the delights that simple gaming can offer you may find yourself tiring quickly of Gish. I enjoyed my time with the game, but my interest did soon fall off and I doubt I will go back to the game now I have finished the review. But if you do like this style of game then Gish really is a superb piece of work, and the talented folk over at Chronologic will entertain you for a very reasonable sum of money.

74%

By Sam Gibson