Review: Treemaker
Score:
83%
Where to start with Treemaker, the brand new puzzle/platformer from Mikrotie? How about one word: “Difficult". For me, though, that’s a good thing. This is a platform game you’ll need to work at to complete, and thanks to the great UI, wonderful controls and smooth gameplay, I think everyone else will appreciate it as much as I do.
Version Reviewed: 1.00
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Let’s start with the difficulty level. It is high – right up there with the more difficult levels of Angry Birds. You can see what’s going on in the game world, you can theorise what you want to do, but implementing the plan with the precision that is sometimes demanded? Well that’s where Treemaker lifts up from a nice looking collection of objects bouncing around (thanks to physics) to something compelling and addictive.
What makes this so different is the control system. Unlike your expectations, you can forget about moving your character around the game world with the left and right keys, and a jump to get past obstacles. You’re pretty much rooted to the spot – the only way to move is to throw a rope up to one of the hovering platforms above you, and then let go of the ground. You’ll be pulled up (thanks to the springy rope) and you’ll arc from side to side if you did anything other than a perfectly vertical throw.
Now all you need to do is let go at the right time to swing safely onto the next platform, while avoiding anything red (which will kill you), not missing the platform (falling to your death) and landing somewhere useful (you can’t walk left or right, so where you land is as important as avoiding anything mid swing).
I’m struggling to think of a game that has a similar concept as the core method of movement , and that means there’s nothing in my brain to tap into – just like you’ll be learning how to move as you play through the levels. That steepens the difficulty curve, but also makes for a game that feels different and has a lot of impetus to learn and ‘get it right’.
The goal of each level is pretty simple – you have to touch the “planting” spots around the level to give this world some new trees. While you’ll start off by landing on these spots, later on you’ll find levels where the key is to not stop, but swing through the spot and land on another platform. You’re going to need a bit of lateral thinking as well.
Swinging not enough of a complication for you? Okay, let’s throw in some walls and obstacles. Touch anything red and it’s game over – but white blocks you can crash into to move, throw a rope on them and pull them towards you, or even bounce off them after you let go of a rope.
It turns out that it's tricky to get screenshots of this game, so here's a video demo from YouTube, to give you an idea os how it looks:
There is a lot going on here, and the best thing about Treemaker is that the screen and graphics never slow down when the action is fast. A mix of smart programming and use of the graphics chip in the Symbian ^3 handsets make this a smooth game that feels both fluid and real.
My only worry about this title is the low number of levels. With only 18 present in the reviewed version of the game, there’s enough for a week of play, and a nice digression, but frankly there’s a potential empire awaiting Treemaker if Mikrotie want to embrace a franchise. I hope they do, and I hope that the application buying public give them every indication that we want more of this.
I know I do. Now pardon me, it’s back to level 5.
-- Ewan Spence, April 2011.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at