Hands on preview: escapeVektor: Chapter 1 (WiiWare)

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3 mins read

Sydney independent developer, Nnooo, has on its hands one of the most interesting WiiWare releases in ages on its hands with escapeVektor.

We’ve got a while to wait before we’ll get to play it, but it’s looking really well refined already. It’s something of a cross between retro classics Qix and Pacman – across a whole bunch of levels you’ll be tasked with “colouring” a series of wires that your avatar is attached to by moving over them. Colour in the entire field and you’ll be able to exit the level and move on. Naturally there’s a number of curve balls thrown to make the task more difficult. There are three enemies to deal with, of varying difficulties and unique personalities. You’ll also need to navigate through, or around, gates that can have a variety of nasty effects.

The game makes use of an overworld map, not unlike the recent New Super Mario Brothers games. Some levels offer a number of different possible exits, and open up alternative routes through the levels. There’s a number of different power ups to unlock as well – such as the ability to boost speed, as well as a “bomb” effect that will clear the level of enemies temporarily.

It controls like a dream, as well. There’s no gimmicky motion control; holding the Wiimote on its side gives you all the buttons you’ll need. Movement is smooth and responsive, and the game’s pacing is just right – action enough to require quick reflexes, but not so fast as to take away from the level of precision you’ll want to navigate through the levels.

The game starts easily enough, but some of the later levels are genuinely challenging. All up you’re looking at around four hours of gameplay – a decent length for a game Nnooo is angling to cost 500 points.

Really, the only disappointment  we have at this stage is a lack of online functions, or even leaderboards (especially appropriate for arcade style games like this). Nnooo’s creative director, Nic Watt, told us that online integration with Wiiware was more difficult than it’s worth, but it worked so nicely with studio’s previous download release, Pop, we will miss it here.

Should escapeVektor be successful, Nnooo has plans for additional ‘chapters’ to be released. We hope it is, because even now, months before release this is a highly refined, appealing little game. Nnooo hasn’t released a game since Pop, choosing instead to focus on the highly successful MyLife Collected series of DSiWare applications, so it will be good to sink the teeth into something a little more gamey from this talented studio.

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  • "Really, the only disappointment we have at this stage is a lack of online functions, or even leaderboards (especially appropriate for arcade style games like this)."

    I don't know how much we can blame the developers…since it really does seem like Nintendo is the problem with poor implementation of online, and having few standards for it(and stupid ones like Friend Codes when they do).

    I mean when a free iPod/iPhone game has leaderboards, something is clearly wrong somewhere. I think the leaderboard feature is something Apple implemented, and did with an "update" the iOS…while Nintendo is apparently using online technology from like the 90s for updates.

    As for the title, I remember seeing a video for this title a few weeks back, and thought it looked really interesting. Hearing it has a Pacman feel is definitely good I think.

    Thanks for covering it!

  • "Really, the only disappointment we have at this stage is a lack of online functions, or even leaderboards (especially appropriate for arcade style games like this)."

    I don't know how much we can blame the developers…since it really does seem like Nintendo is the problem with poor implementation of online, and having few standards for it(and stupid ones like Friend Codes when they do).

    I mean when a free iPod/iPhone game has leaderboards, something is clearly wrong somewhere. I think the leaderboard feature is something Apple implemented, and did with an "update" the iOS…while Nintendo is apparently using online technology from like the 90s for updates.

    As for the title, I remember seeing a video for this title a few weeks back, and thought it looked really interesting. Hearing it has a Pacman feel is definitely good I think.

    Thanks for covering it!

  • Yeah, I don't think Nnooo's to blame at all – Nintendo Wii's online failures are well known to everyone. It's still disappointing, because this game really suits online points competition.

    But that said perhaps a 3DSWare sequel? 😉

    It's a very impressive little game – it'll come well recommended when it does release… I just wonder how many people will be still logging into WiiWare then.

    A last hurrah for the service? I'm wondering so.

  • Yeah, I don't think Nnooo's to blame at all – Nintendo Wii's online failures are well known to everyone. It's still disappointing, because this game really suits online points competition.

    But that said perhaps a 3DSWare sequel? 😉

    It's a very impressive little game – it'll come well recommended when it does release… I just wonder how many people will be still logging into WiiWare then.

    A last hurrah for the service? I'm wondering so.

  • Hi Oregano,

    For sure the 3DS will be the main platform for Nnooo – they are a Nintendo-focused developer.

    However, as they don't have a dev kit yet, they cannot confirm they have any games in the works for the 3DS. They have ideas, but literally cannot start working on them yet.

    Heck, they can't even confirm whether the eShop download limit will be big enough to bundle a complete collection of escapeVektor games together.

    That said, from what I played of the game, it would work really well in 3D.

  • Hi Oregano,

    For sure the 3DS will be the main platform for Nnooo – they are a Nintendo-focused developer.

    However, as they don't have a dev kit yet, they cannot confirm they have any games in the works for the 3DS. They have ideas, but literally cannot start working on them yet.

    Heck, they can't even confirm whether the eShop download limit will be big enough to bundle a complete collection of escapeVektor games together.

    That said, from what I played of the game, it would work really well in 3D.

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