Monday, September 4, 2017

Doodle God (PS3)


Doodle God was originally a smartphone game for iOS and Android, then later ported to the PlayStation family of systems at a higher cost (naturally).  The control scheme is still reminiscent of touch controls at the main menu, since you use the analogue stick to move a hand cursor to select the options.  For the actual gameplay though, thankfully, it translate well to the D-pad and face buttons, such that you can power through the levels quickly once you know which groupings the icons you want are.  Since it was originally a mobile game, the gameplay is simple.  The aim is to combine two elements to create a new one.  Some of the combinations are intuitive such as Swamp + Life = Bacteria and Metal + Tools = Weapon, while others are less so such as Sand + Worm = Snake and Life + Void = Law + Order.  However, not every combination will produce a new element.  If it does, congrats, if they can't, then continue experimenting.

Each element is fitted into a particular group, so finding the icon you want can be annoying when you don't remember the group it was in.  It isn't too much of a problem in the beginning but near the end of the game, where you have 25 different groupings, you might have to enter and exit out of a few in order to find the one you want.  Likewise, while at the beginning it is easy to create new elements, as the game progresses and you get more options, it gets progressively harder to find the correct combinations.  However, there is the option of hints if you are stuck and cannot find a new combination.  Unfortunately, that's all the gameplay ever boils down to so it can become boring very soon.  Doodle God has a sense of humor in its combinations, such as Human + Fire = Corpse, you'll probably chuckle a few times over the course of the game.

There is a simple and short story.  You play as God, creating the world and all the things in it.  You start off with only the four classical elements, which limit you to creating simple items such as "sand" and "metal".  Eventually, through numerous combinations, you can create complicated items such as "internet" and "rockets", which feels like you have gone a long way since the start.  There are a total of four levels, with 228 elements to find in total.  This trial and error gameplay will take hours if you play through it blind without any guide.  However, it'll only take an hour to complete the game if you follow a guide (but where's the fun in that?).  Of course, being a PS3 game, it features Trophies and they are all easy to obtain.  Overall, Doodle God is a simple game that really doesn't seem to be worth the excessive price tag, especially when there are so many better games for the PS3.

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