Blinx: The Time Sweeper

"Cat To The Future"

Sega had Sonic. Nintendo has Mario. Microsoft has Blinx. Every console needs a mascot and Microsoft have decided to plump for a time sweeping cat to do the business as it is hoped that this game will serve as a stepping stone to a lucrative series to entice gamers to the XBox. Looking at him it’s hard to imagine just why Microsoft wanted him as a mascot. A cat, well fair enough if a hedgehog can do it so can a cat, but a cat with bright orange fur and big, bright green eyes and menacing snarl? Hardly the stuff of easy marketing. However, psycho cat or not, it’s the game people will ultimately be interested in.

Microsoft tout this as ‘The first 4-D action game ever!’, yep in this game you can control time itself. During the game you can collect time crystals, which are scattered around the playing field and also appear when you have killed an enemy. Collecting a series of three like crystals gives you a time power. You can pause, fast forward, rewind, slow down and record. This power is exclusive to the XBox thanks to its built in hard drive as it actually records every single second of playing time so, if you rewind for a few seconds it’ll do just that, no problem.

The time control element is used throughout each level. Each said level consists of a number of time monsters and some pretty standard puzzles you have to negotiate. You have a ten-minute time limit in each level and within that time every single monster must be defeated in order to progress. Along the way you need to use your time control elements to get past certain things, for example a collapsed bridge can be reformed using rewind and having to open a door that requires two buttons to be pushed can be managed via the record function.

However the game is marred with the simple fact that it makes things more difficult than they need to be. This is an incredibly frustrating game, so are most platformers, but while Mario and Sonic are frustrating in a way that it is the players fault when you lose a life Blinx, more often than not, hands on the blame to a poorly implemented game. The main gripe is in fact the thing it prides itself on most – the time control. Collecting time crystals may sound easy enough but it’s an altogether complicated affair. As said you must get three or more like crystals to get a time power up. However the crystals do not re-spawn in the level, once they’re gone that’s it, they’re not coming back. This isn’t so bad in the first few levels but later on in the game you’ll really need to have a specific time power up and if you don’t have enough crystals or get one too many ‘bad crystal combos’ then you’ll have no choice but to restart the level again. Indeed it is almost guaranteed you’ll have to go through a level more than once in order to know what time power ups you need so you can collect the set number of crystals. Going to a later level in blind anticipation of which ones you’ll need will work plainly through luck if anything. This seems such a shame from a concept that seems to boast such flexibility it is, in fact, so ridged that it punishes each little mistake you make.

Combat is also an exasperating task. It is not as if the enemies are that hard to defeat, they have very basic A.I. and repetitive attack patterns that you can easily second guess what actions are coming up, but just in the way that it is handled. In Luigi’s Mansion the vacuum worked great in combat, thanks to the use of the second control stick, Blinx doesn’t afford such luxury. In order to hit an enemy then it has to be on the same height level as you because Blinx can only shoot from one height, not aim up or down, meaning a lot of the time you have to jump in order to hit an enemy. Hitting an enemy, even at the same height can be hard enough, sometimes aiming at the seemingly correct place means the piece of rubbish lands at your feet meaning a quick suck up again before the enemy comes chasing after you. The camera doesn’t help either. The camera in Blinx is truly annoying, not just in combat, but generally within the game itself. It often has a mind of its own, wondering round to lock on to a certain enemy whilst you are trying to negotiate a jump, meaning you having to pull it back with the right control stick. Thanks to the level design being made up of corridors and small spaces trying to fight multiple enemies can be hard – especially if you cant actually see them. The camera is erratic, going into a room is problem enough because it fails to pan through the door to let you see where you are, and when you do get there if there is a big number you have to constantly aim, twist and jump in all manner of directions and it simply cannot keep up. This paves way to you getting hit by an enemy because you cant see them, or they aim a piece of rubbish at you from behind because the camera fails to alert you of the possible threat. This seems totally unfair because if you could see them you could easily dodge them and losing a life in this game is a big deal because one hit and that’s it, one life gone. Getting hit by an enemy makes time rewind a few seconds to sometime or other before you got hit, all very well, but on more than one occasion I have been put in a position that makes me lose yet another life. Not good.

Needless to say the 10-minute time limit doesn’t help things. In the later levels you can be really pressed for time, while the challenge of a time limit adds a sometimes-nice urgency to the game, the ten minutes never really seem long enough in some cases, causing silly mistakes to happen. Completing some levels are hard to do normally but to also search for the elusive cat medals scattered around each level will put some gamers off. You can, of course, replay a level, indeed the game encourages it, but that means that even if you find a medal you have to destroy every monster before hand once more and get through the time gate in time.

Presentation wise the game is pleasant enough to look at but nothing really more. This really doesn’t push the XBox’s power to the limits graphically. While the worlds are okay enough, some sport some nice water effects and the first world looks a touch like The Nightmare Before Christmas, they are ultimately uninspired. Like all other platform games this one comes with a water themed world, a mine (complete with rideable mine carts- natch) and a ice world where you can slide about in. They look the part but a bit more imagination really would have paid dividends. The same can be said for the sound. Sound effects are, one the whole, okay and the music to each world is pleasant if unmemorable.

Although Blinx does create difficulties, provided you have the patience of a saint and the skill, you’ll get to grasp the time controls and understand (but not entirely forgive) its shortcomings. Things do get easier when purchasing items from the Shop, you can buy upgraded vacuums, retry holders to give you more lives and time holders to give you more time slots which you will really need for later levels. However, once again Blinx never seems to get this right, as the cost of some items verges on the rip off side and its not as if Blinx levels are crawling with gold. Needless to say this game creates a challenge and, while the levels are short, with the need to reply levels and periods of not playing to save your sanity then this will last a while.

I really did want to like this game because the quirky concept is certainly appealing and you see it does try to add something into the platform genre. However, while I can enjoy the game at times, most other times I’m cursing it due to poor implementation. For those who have a paticular liking and knack for platform games then by all means give this a try (its not as if the XBox is brimming with them at the moment) and even those who are slightly interested then consider renting it out. However as far as the first part of the Blinx saga goes, even with it being ‘The first 4D action game!’ it’s not a very good one.

BLINX: THE TIME SWEEPER IS

An interesting concept
Frustrating
Bland

BLINX: THE TIME SWEEPER IS NOT

A typical platformer
For the easily beaten
As good as Mario or Sonic

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/23/03, Updated 02/23/03