At first glance, Reed looks like an interesting take on the old style pixel platformer that we all knew and loved back in the early days of video games.
You play as Reed, described as ‘a tiny creature’ who looks like a cat designed by the visually impaired. Reed’s goal is to save the world by collecting all the cubes in order to prevent the supercomputer from dying. In traditional pixel platformer style, each level involves jumping across obstacles in order to collect a cube, which will then create a portal taking you to the next level.
On each level of the game you will find a second strange cat, monster or, as the brief description in the app store informs you, a tiny creature. It is this creature’s job to guide you through the game and build the story.
This is a pretty standard method of introducing the player to a game and immersing you in the world rather than an in-your-face tutorial. The problem with this is that the game designer decided to use a font in keeping with the blocky feel of the game, but failed to notice that it is barely readable.[sc name=”quote” text=”The problem with this is that the game designer decided to use a font in keeping with the blocky feel of the game, but failed to notice that it is barely readable.”]
When presented with static text you can take your time to slowly decode every symbol and work out the message being portrayed. However, the opening level presents you with rapid changing text that feels like you’re trying to read the Greek alphabet and leaves you with no idea of what is going on. The only way of understanding the story behind the gameplay is sadly to read the description given in the app store, completely ruining any sense of immersion.
However, you don’t need to read any of the text within the game in order to understand the controls. The controls are simple; move right, move left and jump. This makes the game extremely quick to get the hang of and, once you get to grips with the jump controls, you’re good to work your way through the levels, mindlessly and with no sense of story or progression.
As for the gameplay itself though, it is rather repetitive. Each level involves jumping over obstacles and then jumping even higher in order to collect the cube. Once you’ve got the cube, it disappears and a door appears. That’s it.
Some levels include slightly more in the way of challenge, such as moving logs with spikes underneath, waiting to give you the sweet release of death when you jump and miss the log. Even death seems like an empty addition to the game, as it just takes you back to the start of the level and, since each level takes less than a minute to complete, this doesn’t feel like much of a punishment.[sc name=”quote” text=”Even death seems like an empty addition to the game, as it just takes you back to the start of the level and, since each level takes less than a minute to complete, this doesn’t feel like much of a punishment.”]
Reed is ultimately a cute looking game that will grab the attention of anyone who misses the good old days of gaming, but it fails to impress in almost every way and leaves you annoyed that you wasted your time and money. You quickly realize you’re just going through the motions and receiving no sense of reward for your hard work.
[review pros=”Quick and easy to learn the controls.“ cons=”The text is almost impossible to read. The gameplay is extremely repetitive.” score=3]
[appbox appstore id1347699848]
