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      English
      Gamereactor
      reviews
      Downwell

      Downwell

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      HQ
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      We first came to Downwell on iOS, before later transferring the experience over from mobile to our desktop. It's a perfect fit on both platforms, albeit for different reasons; it's addictive qualities managing the transition with ease.

      Before we get to the nitty gritty of discussing the pros and cons of both platforms, let's set the scene. There's a man (we're assuming it's a man, the pixelated figure is fairly genderless), there's a well, and you jump down it. The whole game is about your descent through multiple procedurally-generated caverns, each filled with creatures that are out to do you harm.

      You're not defenceless; you can jump on the heads of most of the beasties you encounter on the way, and you can shoot everything and anything with your gunboots. Gunboots: they're as awesome as they sound.

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      Where Downwell shines brightest is the nuanced controls and its subtle mechanics, and the careful attention to detail that has been paid across the board. Don't be fooled by the low-fi visual finish, this game is no relic. There's a plethora of interlocking features that ensures every attempt is different from the last, and each is a stern challenge that requires total concentration (and a dash of luck for good measure).

      Let's start with the gunboots. The standard setup spews out a short burst of bullets, and they recharge whenever you land on something, be that the head of bat or a ledge made of stone. Jumping between enemies while shooting others allows you to build up a combo score, although doing so is fairly hazardous to your health, because you're jumping straight down and the pace becomes frantic, almost impossible to keep track of at times. As soon as you land on solid ground, the combo is over.

      At various intervals there's little areas off to the left and right of the screen, enterable via a little bubble that separates these caves from the chaos and carnage raging outside. Inside there's either valuable gems (the in-game currency, we'll get to that later) or alternative weapons. There's a range of options, with favourites like the laser and the triple shot, through to shotguns and burst fire. Each will subtly change the way you play.

      When you shoot your enemies (and certain bits of scenery) they turn into gems, and these can be collected and used to buy additional health, as well as charge your weapons. They also give you a temporary "gem high" that improves the effectiveness of your weapons (you know when you're high because a red blur follows you around for a short time). Points accumulated feed into an overall score that builds up across play-throughs, and when you hit various milestones you unlock different visual filters for the game, as well as different "styles" that give you a slightly different ability from the start.

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      Downwell
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      Unlocking the "boulder style" was a game-changing moment for us, simply because it meant we started with extra health points, which gave us the additional legs to venture further into depths. Downwell is a roguelike, so health is finite and permanent death is always just a procedurally-generated jump away. You can get extra health when you change weapons - but not always - and sometimes in-between levels too.

      When you finish each cavern you're given a bonus ability, and these also subtly change the way you approach the game. There's a solid selection to choose between, and you'll have to decide after each successfully complete level whether you want to, for example, automatically suck in gems as they drop, or if you'd prefer your enemies to explode when you stomp on them.

      Throughout each attempt Downwell requires you to make interesting decisions, as well as adapt to the hand that's dealt to you. Every pass is unique, not just because of the aforementioned choices, but also because of the constantly changing scenery. In-between all the monster stomping and gem grabbing, there's a nuanced and extremely effective visual language that feeds you information throughout, and the platforming that underpins all this chaotic action is borderline perfect.

      So we like it, but which version did we prefer? The mobile version is great in that the relatively quick-fire play sessions are great filler during a quiet moment while you wait in the car or before the train rolls into the station. That said, when we switched from touch controls to a gamepad on PC it was something of a revelation, and we were able to progress further and with more confidence when there was a controller in hand. Ultimately we enjoyed both versions of the game, and we'd happily recommend Downwell to any player and on either platform.

      HQ
      09 Gamereactor UK
      9 / 10
      +
      + Great platforming, responsive controls, interesting decisions, thoughtful design.
      -
      - Our podgy fingers led to some unfortunate deaths when using touch controls, it can get overwhelmingly busy during certain sections.
      overall score
      is our network score. What's yours? The network score is the average of every country's score

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