Reviewed: July 16, 2003
Reviewed by: Tyler Todd
Publisher
Norbyte
Developer
Norbyte
Released: June 11, 2003
Genre: Puzzle
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
7
3
2
8
7.5
System Requirements
Also available for Macintosh
Registration Fee: $14.95
Download Demo
Anyone who knows me will tell you two things if you offer them the right amount of money:
- Binge drinking can result in vomiting, loss of sensory perception and blackouts (who knew?)
- I'm addicted to Tetris
Tetris and arcade puzzle games in the same vein seep into your bloodstream and take over your life. Last time I went on a Tetris binge, I was bludgeoned by police in full riot gear and had to inhale a lungful of searing pepper spray. My church group was not impressed. If I was going to take on Downfall, I would have to establish some ground rules.
I restricted my play to 30-minute bursts, and submerged my head in ice-cold water during breaks. I'm pleased to report that my homegrown cure worked like a charm. Still, I can't explain why I've been sitting here for the past hour in a catatonic haze trying to mentally rearrange the blocks on my brother's face and solve the pattern...I think he's growing suspicious.
Any historian worth his salt will tell you that Tetris was invented by Alexey Pajitnov, a prominent Russian lifestyle guru and live-in nanny. Other mushy-headed historians wearing tweed jackets with leather elbow patches challenge that claim. Armed with fancy "degrees" and flashy "credentials" and gaudy "diplomas" they will tell you that Pajitnov is, in fact, a respected computer engineer who developed Tetris in 1985 while working at the Moscow Academy of Sciences. To this I say: POPPYCOCK.
Since that fateful year - 1985, Chinese Year of the Ox - the Tetris formula has seen countless variations. Downfall is the latest in a long line of mutations, the logical offspring of Columns and Tetris, and will give even double-domed eggheads attending MIT a run for their grant money.
The object of the game is simple enough. Three blocks (or cubes in the more refined 3D environment) of the same color must be placed in a straight line either vertically, horizontally or diagonally in order to score points. If you can work more than three blocks into the mix or build up chain reactions, you will score extra points and have a warm, fuzzy feeling in your tummy.
Unlike conventional Tetris, you cannot rotate the pieces (that come in only one shape - a column ranging from 1-5 blocks), but you can cycle the order of the blocks thus lining up complex patterns of colors horizontally, vertically, and diagonally with existing blocks. It won't take more than a few games to realize that diagonal matches are the key to Downfall.
Levels in Downfall are divided into five categories: Classic, Sub-Zero, Volcanoes, Demolition and Abstract. These are subdivided into boards - 24 in total - each with its own unique strategy requiring you to employ different tactics and techniques. Every board offers special "wild card" cubes - indestructible stone blocks, wrecking balls, shovels, dynamite sticks and hammers. The wild card pieces add a whole new twist and up the challenge significantly.
Cutting-edge visuals are not the hallmark of puzzle games like Downfall. Real-time 3D graphics and environments keep you interested and focused, but for the most part, Downfall looks like it's firmly rooted in the 16-bit Sega Genesis days. The cubes are vivid and colorful enough to rival a Tokyo strip mall, so if you scorch your retinae while playing, find an eye bath posthaste and rinse.
When you clear a line, the board will tilt and swing with a trippy, hypnotic 3D effect that could transfix even Ken Kesey. It's a nice touch, but if you gaze at it too long you may end up racing across the country in a Scooby Doo van and insist on draping yourself in tie-dye. Consider yourself warned. The aim of Downfall is to gently massage your cerebrum, not plunge you into a coma with heart-stopping visuals - the graphics are functional and achieve their purpose.
The sound is a subtle mix of hollow clicks, zips, pops and clops; straightforward snapping sounds that let you know when you've slipped a piece into place. I'd wager the audio geeks used coconut husks and ziploc bags to record their sounds.
There is no music to speak of, but the game is hardly a resource hog. You can cue up Winamp in the background and have it churn out your favorite MP3s.
For only $14.95, you can surrender hours of your life playing Downfall. The ability to import/export high scores will give you bragging rights and allow you to heap scorn on relatives and pick fights with neighbors. What more could you ask for?
Be advised, though: we at GCM have already conferred with our platoon of high-powered attorneys. We won't pay for your therapy or the 12-step program you may need to wean yourself from Downfall's cubical grip. Indeed, the game is so addictive its awesome powers have been tapped to combat vice and evil at home and abroad. The U.S. military has allegedly contracted several C-130 Hercules cargo planes to drop copies on crack houses across the country, terrorist camps in Afghanistan, and pamphlet-waving zen beatniks out in Berkeley, California.
A solid core matters more than elaborate FMV sequences and seamless textures - this would explain why so many people have Nintendo emulators running on their PCs more than a decade after the system's demise.
Downfall successfully adapts the Tetris formula and adds flavor and style of its own. It's well worth the 777k download and $15 to unlock all 24 levels, and provided me with more mind-bending entertainment than several major titles released this year.