"Untying the Braid"

Untying the Braid: A Review of “Braid”

“Braid.” The simple, yet obscure word greats you in fiery font at the apparent title screen of this platformer. Yet is this really the title screen? As you tinker with the Xbox 360 controller, you see the silhouette of a tiny man move underneath the giant title of the game. As he wanders to the right side of the screen in classic video game style, you'll find that the game plays like almost every other solid platformer you've ever played. That is, until you enter the first “World” of the game.

The game Braid greets the player with calm, instrumental music that is not so abrasive that it distracts from the uniquely artistic visuals. Tim, the tiny protagonist is dressed in a business suit and is faced with the immediate challenge of jumping on monster heads with legs. Early on you face common platforming obstacles such as deadly plants sprouting from plumbing pipes, pits of blazing spikes, and incendiary cannon fire. Do these things sound familiar? If they do it's because the game plays aesthetic homage to gaming classics like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. Even the monster heads resemble the foot-fodder Goombas. Besides stomping on your foes, the similarities end there.

Once the player curiously presses the ‘X' button for the first time, they will find themselves re-performing the acts they did seconds ago. As the lulling music hauntingly reverses itself, Tim will move backwards through time at varying speeds depending on the player's preference. It's easy for one to see this as a gimmick initially, as time travel has been done in gaming before. However, upon discovering the first key needed to open a door, it's immediately obvious that this game isn't about mindless foe stomping and rewinding.

Braid is a game about collecting puzzle pieces to put together obscure works of art. Each puzzle piece is progressively harder to gather, and it is up to the player to adapt their time-twisting tactics to alter their past paths to acquire seemingly inaccessible puzzle pieces. The time-altering abilities are not limited to simply user control rewind ability. In one world moving to the right side of the screen progresses time, while moving to the left reverses it. In another world every time Tim finishes rewinding time, a shadow form of himself appears to reenact past movements. Furthermore, Tim uses a ring to slow down time within proximity of where the ring is dropped. All of these features, while making the user feel like they have become more powerful, also complicate the puzzles to mind-bending difficulty.

The difficulty of Braid varies from gamer to gamer and from level to level. Some puzzles will leave you frustrated for hours, only to have your nerves lulled by the tranquilizing background music. Other puzzle pieces will be collected within seconds with little trouble at all. Either way, after spending a half hour plus on a given puzzle piece (and you will), your jaw will drop not only from amazement of your own abilities, but from the actual, mind-blowing solution. You will marvel at the problem solving mechanics independent developer Jonathan Blow demands from players, and at the same time praising and cursing his name.

Tying the whole abstract work together is the original and surprisingly emotional story. Simple platforming has never been complemented so well by rich text. Amidst Tim's quest for a lost princess, players will encounter varied story tones of doubt, yearning, obsession, jealously, and something much, much darker. Needless to say, the climax to the game will keep you chewing on the plot of this deceptively simply game for days.

For 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) Braid can be yours for downloading on Xbox Live Arcade. The price is considered quite high because the game could be finished in two to three sittings, depending on how quickly you solve the puzzles. Additionally, once you are stuck there is not hint feature and you may be forced to look online if you do indeed hit a brick wall. Fortunately you can skip and come back to any puzzle pieces without penalty. Replayability is also moderately low, unless you feel like doing speed runs or collecting the devastatingly hidden stars of the game. Once you know the puzzle solutions, you know them. There will be no surprises in the following replays, unless you forgot the solutions.

Overall, Braid is a unique and exciting game, and I have never played anything quite like it. The whimsical music, visuals and sounds are artistically offset by the obscure tones of the game's story. Once you gather that first puzzle piece, it will be hard to stop. You'll just wish it was much longer.

Overall: 8/10

Thanks for reading

Dimly
(Jackal45x)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/08

Game Release: Braid (US, 08/06/08)