REDDEN is an action game that takes the player on an interactive journey through history. When I found out that the story takes place in a junk shop, I was afraid that it would be so campy that it would give me BO. As it turns out there are no strange pets, cheesy antiques, or offensive caricatures of elderly Asian men, but there are talking tools with past lives as personified projectiles. Aweshum.
In fact, there isn’t much offensive about this game at all. The tri-chromatic graphics seem to be inspired by old era silk screen shadow puppetry. The background music is soothing and the perfect backdrop to the game’s simplistic yet stunning scenery.
The gamebegins with a conversation (in English subtitles) between a cell phone and other products in a junk shop. Bemoaning its current situation sets off a wave of historical tales told by three tools: a cutting board named Jo, a pot named Bi, and a cleaver that goes by Cal. How three rather large cooking tools were able to be formed from much smaller projectiles is beyond me. Is it possible that these tools (giggle) are telling tall tales? Hmmm…
The first to tell its story is Jo. This cutting board used to be an arrow used by a prince to save an oppressed village. You must help progress the story by guiding the arrow through several scenes containing obstacles and enemies that either must be avoided or annihilated in order to hit the intended target . Each projectile that you will become has its own stages to complete. They each possess their own special ability accessible at certain speeds obtained by taking advantage of favorable winds.
The control options are practical allowing the player to tilt the screen or touch left or right to determine the projectile’s angle of travel and thus its altitude. However, the menu does caution that the tilt controls can have response issues. The advice is very much appreciated.
The controls may be simple but gameplay becomes difficult quite quickly. You are shown the complete stage ahead of time but you only get one projectile so its important to study the scenery. After completing each stage, the player acquires points and stars depending on how many mitigating obstacles and enemies they were able to destroy en route to the target. How one takes down the target is key. Arms and legs yield the lowest point reward. Next in line are body shots and of course head shots reign supreme.
Game play is broken up by cut scenes that set up the next phase of the character’s story. The cut scenes are fast paced and subtitled in English. So if you don’t like speed reading you may find yourself annoyed.
Some players have complained that the scanning of the stage takes up too much time between attempts. Personally I liked seeing the scan of the stage multiple times. It allowed me to catch previously missed details and clues about the best way to fly. If I found myself overstimulated I could always utilize the “skip” option at the bottom of the screen.
My only gripe is that sometimes your projectile can go a little crazy mid-flight. I’m not sure if I’d call it a glitch since my phone is a bit of a dinosaur. Regardless, I only had problems a few times and all I had to do was close the game and restart it.
Final Assessment: Originality?…check. Asesthetics?..check, check. Playability?…check. Plot? Eh, a little wierd but definitely interesting. Social media application? Check.
Yeah, you can auto-brag every time you do something cool in the game and get an achievement just by logging into your Google account. And if you find yourself needing more of a challenge just change the difficulty setting.
REDDEN definitely has it all. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a few more stars to earn in order to unlock the last projectile. This might take a bit. But before I go I’d like to applaud the developers on their minimalist approach. I’m not sure if it was a money issue or a rating issue, either way good call. Tarantino would be jealous.
But is it Hardcore?
Yes indeed.
REDDEN is an eye pleaser and brain teaser guaranteed to make droid game history. No pun intended.