Darkmatters Review: Gravity Rush

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Darkmatters Review: Gravity Rush

Gravity Rush (PS VITA exclusive)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Every once in a while a game comes along that changes everything…

Gravity Rush is such a game.

Finally Sony have a truly groundbreaking, original title to showcase their wonder hand held VITA – and Gravity Rush delivers big time. This game is a creative work of art – where a girl named Kat finds she has fantastic powers, can influence gravity itself and must use it to save her world.

"sideways is the new up"

Set in an uber cool steampunk city that stretches into the clouds - airships circle, people bustle around trying to ignore the freaky energy portal that looms over the city threatening to bring destruction to all… Kat (and her pet cat) is tasked with saving the day by leaping into the sky, bursting forward onto whatever wall / roof / vehicle she can see. It’s a gaming ‘rush’ that brings a new and glorious way to move around – it is fast to pick up and so satisfying that you can happily spend hours just blasting around the city not even taking on any of the story or side missions.

Kat’s skills can be upgraded by collecting crystals which are all round the city, gravity manipulation is just one of Kat’s powers, she can kick ass in combat and buff her health and other stats too, It’s a nice and very intuitive level up mechanism which gives the game a good RPG feel.

"rival girl - with her crow"

Supposedly inspired by the Xbox 360 game ‘Crackdown’ Gravity Rush manages to trump that game even though it’s a hand held – but this is a new breed of hand held game, one that nothing on the 3DS or PSP has ever come close to achieving. Graphically Gravity Rush hits like a fully fledged anime film – gorgeous, eye-popping and jaw dropping, this is a game that you’ll want to show non VITA owning pals just to see the looks of disbelief on their faces.

Battling spirits, collecting items, beating challenges and working through the main story missions is great on the go. You can tackle them in bite-sized chunks but the whole game delivers c20hours of fun and there is already downloadable content on the way from Japan.

"Fan art inspiration"

The combat is great – especially as you build up Kat’s powers so you can use gravity to attack by throwing boxes, barrels and rocks at opponents. Boss battles are challenging and there are many customization options. I have to admit to being utterly blown away by this game, it’s the only VITA game to get a look in since the highly addictive Disgaea 3 launched.

Take Crackdown, amp up the gravity defying antics to the point where you could be playing Pilotwings – mix in some cool combat from the likes of Infamous and collecting from Mario games… Gravity Rush is an instant classic and a must buy for fans of quality games – this is a game you absolutely need to experience!!