Falling is not fun. I’ve done a lot of falling, and from very high places. Some of the early 3D games on N64 had epic falls. Remember Turok? The opening scene of Goldeneye? Shadows of the Empire? And of course, Super Mario 64. And Mario is what Grow Home reminds me of most. A 3D world of puzzles solved only by some serious unhumanly gymnastics as well as wit. And some flying as well. Mess up? Long way down.
Falling sucks
Ubisoft’s Grow Home is out on PC and it’s not for the vertigo-sensitive. The game is vertical. You’re a robot named B.U.D. (Botanical Utility Droid) and like Wall-E, you’re on a mission sent from someone who probably don’t care as much about a robot as we do, and then like E.T., he’s gotta get on home, except he can’t phone, he’s gotta climb. And then climb. And then climb some more. There’s jumping and flying, too. And using the environment such as a tree branch that grows out like Pinocchio’s nose and a catapulting plant that launches you to where you need to go…hopefully.
The music is also Super Mario-esque. Not N64, but the original Nintendo. Still good. And they advertise the graphics as minimalist, which is fine as long as the game plays, but some of it looks like it was done on SketchUp.
Would I buy this game for $7.99? Probably not. Not because it doesn’t look good. I just can’t play a whole game where I’d have to battle my fear of heights. Then again, maybe it’ll be good therapy.
Game is out now on Steam.