combine the legend of zelda with a
rubik's cube and what you've got is a
game called fez I recently bought it for
Xbox Live so let's see what it's all
about
Fez is a puzzle platformer that'll give
you a new way of perceiving existence
it'll teach you to think differently and
change the way that you look at things
so Fez is the story of Gomez a
rectangular headed pixelated character
that'll remind you of something off the
Apple to those released in 2012
he's a 2d character and he discovers
that he actually lives in a
three-dimensional world and he also
discovers that his world is in serious
trouble but here we have this thing
called the hexahedron which is
fragmented and the pieces are sent all
over the world it's like the Triforce in
the Legend of Zelda Gomez is granted the
power to rotate the world with his new
magic hat a fez the Hat allows you to
alter your perspective and see the 2d
stage in three dimensions so you set out
on a quest with your newfound ability
traveling the world trying to get all
the cube pieces back when you get enough
pieces you complete a cube which you use
to open a new door to advance by
spinning the world on its axis and
changing the screens perspective you can
find new ways to advance that weren't
there before in many ways the game feels
like playing The Legend of Zelda
exploring a new world by collecting keys
triggering switches planting bombs and
so on
opening treasure chest is even really
similar to Zelda especially the way the
camera spins around in a circle one
unique thing is that when you pass by a
door to a room that you've already been
through it'll show you a preview so that
you don't have to waste your time going
back in if you can't remember what was
inside of it some of the doors take you
to different islands and you'll have to
figure out creative and unique puzzles
in each new area that you visit you'll
often find doors to new areas before
completing everything that there is to
do and the one you're already at so
you'll find that you'll have to travel
back to where you were before a lot that
much reminds me of a Metroid game having
to revisit areas
unlike Zelda or Metroid there's no
enemies to speak of and when you die you
aren't brought back to the beginning of
a dungeon you restart exactly where you
fell off which I like because it saves
time while this game is mostly about
solving puzzles I have to say as a
platformer it really is a fresh engaging
experience because of the consistent
shifts in perspective it's really
something that I've just never
experienced before in any game I
absolutely love the graphics in this
game too but it was designed this way on
purpose and it's one of the greatest
design choices that I've ever seen the
world in Fez changes from day to night
as you're playing and the change in
color in the sky is really beautiful to
look at not to mention there's other
little environmental details to look at
as well like animated animals walking
about it makes you really want to live
in this world with this game rather than
the traditional side-scrolling levels
each stage is interconnected by doorways
that lead to new areas and each area has
its own unique style and charm to it
from simple town areas and a lighthouse
to a cemetery that becomes illuminated
when the lightning strikes
and there's even a stage that looks like
an old Gameboy game which is cool all
kinds of great stuff as you're going
through it there's symbols and signs
that you have to take note of to solve
some of the later puzzles you'll
actually need to break out a pen and
paper sometimes to remember stuff which
is another fun aspect for us puzzle
gurus the game's presentation is pretty
clearly aimed at lovers of the 8-bit era
both in terms of graphics and the music
the music in this is just so fitting and
it never becomes distracting it really
sells the world making it seem more real
usually the music is all very relaxed
which I like it doesn't make you feel
like you have to rush which is a good
thing because some of these puzzles take
a while to figure out then other times
the music becomes a bit more tense they
really did a good job setting the mood
for the player and what I like is that
the game doesn't hold your hand at all
they let you figure out everything for
yourself and when games do that it gives
the player a much larger sense of
accomplishment when they figure
something out at one point it even says
figure it out yourself as the game goes
along it gets harder one way they make
it more challenging is that black hole
will start appearing because you can
only fold space so many times before it
starts to rip these black holes get in
your way making it harder to get by the
only real flaw I found in the game is
that sometimes when you go through a
door and travel to another Island often
it can become kind of glitchy but being
a downloadable xbox live game maybe they
can still fix the bugs between the area
transitions I guess as I said the goal
here is to collect all 32 cubes
scattered around the world which are
actually each obtained by collecting
eight miniature cubes doing that allows
you to beat the game but you'll only get
the basic ending later in the game that
introduced antique you use only by
collecting those to get the best ending
getting these anti cubes is a lot more
difficult than finding the regular ones
because the puzzles are much more
complicated to figure out for example in
one of the anti cube puzzles it involves
having to put blocks into a square hole
there's designs on the blocks and you'll
have to match up the pattern
sign on the rock base and you'll also
have to spin the camera to see the
different sides of the rock formation to
find the correct wall to place the
blocks I guess I should let you know
some of the puzzles can't be solved
until you unlock the first-person
perspective and you need to beat the
game in order to get that so I haven't
played a newer game in a long time
that's brought back that sense of wonder
and thrill a discovery like I got when I
was a kid but this game is one of the
few that's managed to do it if you want
to have that feeling like the first time
you play Metroid or Zelda then I really
recommend playing this game a lot of the
big title industry games don't have the
charm that these indie games have and I
think that's because back in the old
days of the Atari 2600 and the NES there
were fewer people involved in designing
the game like the old phrase says too
many cooks spoil the stew I guess but
really bez is one of the best games I've
played in 2012 it just gets better the
further into it you go if puzzle games
aren't your thing then certainly stay
away otherwise this is a game that you
have to play
you