(3.5 / 4)
Also on: Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, Windows
DON'T LOSE YOUR BALANCE
TorqueL, in a nutshell, is a game for masochists and people who don't care down what roads their frustrations might lead them, as long as the satisfaction of beating the bloody thing is worthwhile. Hardcore gamers behold, this might be a game for you, a game you might not enjoy playing as much as finally beating. Is the trade-off worth it? Hell, yes it is. I've not played a more captivating game in a Fortnite.
Is there a story behind it? Well, if there is, it doesn't use words, signs or gestures. The basics are these: You control a man (resembling Miner Willy after he turned jet set) stuck inside a box, in a standard, very primitive 2D-platforming environment reminiscent of the early 1980:s ZX Spectrum aesthetics. All the man can do is run left or right, making the box rotate around him in either direction, making him slowly move in the desired direction.
This alone won't get him far. In order to beat each level you have to make the box touch a small goal area, and there are plenty of obstacles in the way. Luckily, the box has the ability to extend itself in either and all of its four directions, creating a lengthy torque. With such a tool, you'll be able to reach across ledges, shoot yourself into the air, pole vault over lava pits and gain a whole lot more momentum than just spinning that stupid box could.
To win you need to utilize the physics of these torques. Early gameplay consists of the simplest of obstacles. You'll get past them without too much hassle. The next stage will introduce something new - e.g. higher ledges, lethal obstacles, rotating platforms, carefully balanced platforms or areas that alter gravity - that forces you to completely rethink the possibilites of said mechanics.
Adjusting your mind, as well as honing your reflexes and spatial awareness is key in beating a course of TorqueL. Add to that an unhealthy dose of trial and error.
It is essentially designed to be a speedrunner's game. There's even a timer ticking in the top right corner of the screen, tracking how long you've spent on your current route. Every level is short, which is key in making TorqeL so captivating. You should be able to beat even the longest ones in under a minute in your winning attempt. Of course, the winning attempt might be hours away.
There are only 50 levels all in all, and to win the game, you don't have to finish all of them. I'm not even sure there's a route that takes you through every single one, meaning there are mandatory level skips. There are eight different routes of varying difficulty through the game, one of them hidden. For the sake of this review, I have finished three of them.
Nothing goes smoothly. Certainly not your first attempt. Initially, just getting around is a bitch. Since the box around your guy constantly rotates, trying to figure out which side to extend in any given moment takes a split second extra. Once you finally decide, that moment's gone, and off you go in the complete opposite direction, which very likely results in your death. One emergency measure that often helps is extending all four sides. This will keep you fixed in place and give you time to ponder your next move.
Maybe you should keep the right side extended and remove the others? If you do, what will come next? You might plunge into the lava below, but not if you're quick and quickly extend the roof. That'll leave you in an 'L'-shape dangling over a chasm. If you then release the right torque, which is now bottom left, and slightly apply some force to the right, and then apply the left hand torque, which will protrude from the right side, you might just be able to reach that platf...
FUCK!
Never mind. Try again. You know what to do now.
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