Blinx: The Time Sweeper

"Different, but disappointing."

Xbox's mascot needs a damn good game to stand a chance against the likes of Sonic and Mario. Sadly, this game is more like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.

Graphics: ****

If one thing can be said about Blinx, the graphics are superb. Blinx himself is painstakingly rendered, full of detail and well animated. The environments are equally luscious, although sometimes a little repetitive (level 1 doesn't differ much from level 2, or level 4 for that matter.) The water effects are awesome- try running through water using Pause! It's incredible! The only problem is that everything looks a bit fuzzy, a tad washed out, and non-Blinx characters lack detail. I'll go into Blinx himself in the gameplay heading.

Music/ Sound Effects: ***

The music is sickeningly upbeat, even for a platformer. It's here that you can tell Artoon members used to work for Sonic Team, the level 2 music is very reminiscent of NiGHTS' Splash Canyon. On the whole, it's merely average. As for sound effects- what sound effects? Apart from the time power noises (very good) there are barely any! Blinx doesn't say much, apart from the occasional 'merroww'. Unlike the cats near my house who never shut up, Blinx would make a fine pet. But this isn't SimPet, it's a platform game and I'd like to hear him making noise.

Gameplay: **

For all it's graphical polish, this is ultimately where Blinx falls short. Its main feature and gameplay dynamic is the use of time to give Blinx the advantage, and it works- to an extent. Blinx can Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward, Slow-Mo, and Record his way through the stages, but to do so he needs Time Crystals. This adds a tactical edge to the gameplay, but at the end of the day it just ends up pissing me off. Most of your in-game time is spent roaming around, looking for the crystals you need. Instead, why not give Blinx free use of the powers, and make the levels use them more? I found very few instances where the time powers were essential to completing the game. They end up as just another gimmick. Even with the time powers, the levels are pretty linear- Blinx's time powers can't stop things from happening completely. Branching paths would make things a lot more interesting.
The levels deserve a lot of criticism, because they are just plain ****. They are far too small- every one can be completed in half the time provided, some in under a minute. They are also boring and uninspired. The caves don't feel like caves- they feel like a collection of cave themed boxes. The cities are like city-themed boxes, and so on. A few interesting set pieces isn't much to ask, after all, these should be included as standard.
As a character, Blinx is pretty cool, if lacking in originality. As a game character, he's not much cop at all. Of all my problems with Blinx, my biggest was this- it's SO ****ING SLOW! At first, it didn't annoy me that much. But as the levels progressed, I got more and more frustrated. Maybe it's because I've grown up on 12 years of Sonic. Maybe it's the most obvious reason- that Blinx plods along slower than a tortoise can crawl. The action stops and starts like a second hand Lada, as Blinx pauses to suck up more garbage. Combat is uninspired, with monsters offering little variation (except dying a lot, of course.) The rubbish controls don't help- separate controls for Blinx and the Time Sweeper are needed desperately.
It's also hard. Damn hard. Not due to any actual difficult sections, though- the game cheats you at regular opportunities. By replacing the standard 'You're dead, try again!' with the 'You're dead, rewind a few seconds and try again!' Blinx sometimes gets nailed not once, but two or three times before you can correct your earlier mistake. At times you'll go through retries like I go through bags of chocolate MnMs. And in this game, Blinx doesn't get 9 lives- he only has one, before you have to reload the whole game again. In a word, infuriating.
Blinx is very much a game of trial and (multiple) error, with that camera rearing its ugly head to block your view of enemies. I can also remember many times where upon firing a piece of garbage at a monster, the trash hit some kind of invisible wall, and I promptly died. Then I played Halo instead.

Lastability: *****

It'll sit unfinished on my shelf for years to come. And yes, I know that joke's been done.

Overall:

To call Blinx annoying would be an understatement. It's a bit like winning the lottery, then having the money stolen just when you were beginning to enjoy being rich. I could live with a few of its shortcomings, but they all amount up to a very messy game. In the course of reviewing Blinx, my score went down about 10%- what does that say about it?

64%

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/03, Updated 04/02/03