Intro

I remember back in the late 80’s when my older brother would go out with their friends and leave the NES by it’s lonesome. I would play hours to months on Platform games (That I still play today) like Super Mario Brothers 1-3 , Castlevania , Avengers and many other titles. Back then developers only gave you enough information about the character such as only knowing the name and what kind of dodo you got you’re self into. Imagination would fill in the rest. Mechanics were simple but the difficulty lasted a lifetime embedded in my memories, well I would say scarring is the better word for it. I wanted to see if FEZ could live up to classic titles of yore and see if it could be engrained in my cortex for all times as a new age platformer. Do you think this game will stand the test of time? Let’s find out.

GAME NAME: FEZ DEVELOPER(S): Polytron LICENSE(S): Trapdoor and Polytron PLATFORM(S): XBox360 | Windows | Mac | Linux GENRE(S): Puzzle/Platformer RELEASE DATE(S): Original: Apr 12, 2012 / Linux: Sept 11, 2013

Release Trailer

Story of FEZ

In FEZ you play as Gomez, a young little 2d “whipper snapper” who is summoned by one of the elders of the village Gomez lives in. There you obtain a shiny new fez hat. The hat allows Gomez to see the 3rd dimension, but the cost for doing so causes the Hexahedron to break apart into tiny pieces and scattered across the world. Gomez wakes up and meets a hypercube who then tells him that he must find all the shards of the Hexahedron or the world will be ripped apart.

Gameplay and Handle

In the game you move through the world with your fancy red fez hat with the slight ability to see everything in 3D. Like any other platform game before it you can walk , climb , jump and move between dimensional planes (Wait, WHAT?!).The aim of the game is to gather the shards from all over the world and rebuild the Hexahedron with 32 smaller cubes. Additionally you solve puzzles to find 32 Anti-Cubes which are also scattered all over the world. Now these puzzles are not all simple “put this here and put that there”. No, some require attention to detail. But I really love the fact that it was full controller support, I know that the game came from the Xbox360 but still they didn’t have to but they did. I am a big fan of using the Logitech F710 which worked right away. Of all the games I have played so far that have controller support it has worked right out of the box and had no hassles. This game plays great for me when I play in my man den or in the family room on my Ubuntu Alienware X51 in Big Picture Mode. Now again the puzzles were hard and still are hard if you don’t pay attention to small details. At times it was annoying when I am crunched for time but after finally solving it I felt a huge sense of grandeur. I felt at times I would forget that FEZ was not just a 2D platformer and forget that I can operate on the 3rd dimension.

Graphics

FEZ sported some very colorful 2D graphics which really catches your eye not only in game but when you first start the game the Polytron logo pops on the screen. the transitions between levels and worlds was smooth and 0% glitches and breaks in the graphics. The scary part is the crazy looking owl statue that constantly stares at you (WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!). the only down side was that certain spots I would be half covered by an object that was behind Gomez. Overall the games graphics were stunning for a 2D platformer and my eyes got a all you can eat buffet of color.

Sounds

What can I say about this games sound track. I measure a game not only by the story it tells but how well the music can sell the story to me and really get me immersed in the game. The sounds and Music really drew me in and gave the world that much more of not only nostalgia but also immersion into everything I did in the game. The volume controller could have been better at certain points, but overall this is a memorable soundtrack.

Overall

So the question I asked earlier “Do you think this game will stand the test of time?” With all the hype and trials and tribulations of Phil Fish and the hype from E3 and Indie Game Movie I felt that FEZ has made a staying power with me. I’m still playing trying to do better on puzzles and trying to find every last single cube so I can move on with life. I feel like that kid again back in the 80’s playing Super Mario Brothers spending the hours and days on a game. Mind you I don’t have the stumpy thumbs any more. Phil Fish made a great game and thanks to Ethan “flibitijibibo” Lee for helping to bring this amazing game to Linux Gamers. This game is a must get on anyones list. you can pick it up on Steam. Game on /rooters.