N+

"Pain Despair and Death"

n+ is an Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) game, based on the free flash game entitled n.

You play a ninja working his way through a series of rooms, trying to open the door and escape. There are of course myriad enemies trying to stop you doing this, and also a time limit which you can extend with Gold.

Gold is often well of the beaten track, and you will more than likely want to skip getting all the gold in favour of getting to the door without being electrocuted/ shot/lasered/blown up.

There are 50 episodes of 5 levels each. Your time limit starts on 90 seconds, and carries over within each level, but resets back to 90 at the beginning of each episode.

If you die (And you will, a lot, but I'll get to that later) you must restart the level, but your time resets to the value it was before you started, so there is no danger of running out of time just through dying over and over (and over) again. Infinite lives also means you can try as many times as you like to complete a level.

Ok, so that is the basic premise, but what about the game?

This game will make you want to each your own hands. After the 50th attempt at a tricky level, you would much rather take a paper cut to the tongue, than try again. This game will make you physically violent.

This game seems to have been made with the express purpose of p***ing you off. It's not that the levels are especially well designed, it isn't terribly original, but some levels are just so ridiculous, you wonder if play testers decided that if even one of them finished the level, that it was ok for inclusion in the game. Obviously the levels aren't impossible, but some of them are verging so close that I'm pretty sure that I will find one soon (having played 30 of the 60 episodes so far).

Half the issue is the control system. I am a firm believer that there should not be too much of a line between knowing what to do, and doing it. The levels that irritate me the most are the ones where I can see exactly what I have to do, but I just can't do it. Not because I'm rubbish, but because the jumps don't work as uniformly as you'd like.

Jumping is this games biggest problem. Sometimes, it just doesn't work. You can see why it hasn't worked, but you don't understand it. Was I too close to the edge? Did I not hold the button down for long enough, or maybe too long? I just don't know.

That and corners of terrain cause big issues too. Sometimes your ninja will be half on the edge of a platform and half off, and slowly slip down until he is standing on the vertical part of the ledge, and then fall off. This all happens pretty quickly, and if you're trying to make inch perfect runs (more on that later), when things like this happen, which as far as I'm concerned is a bug, not a planned gaming mechanic; it makes the game seem broken, and thus not fun.

This game is like slow torture, and some people are not going to be able to handle that. Some people will genuinely associate this game with pain and frustration and not want to play it again.

If you're hardcore, you may get a kick of this game. There are numerous leaderboards, but the ones you will be looking at the most (if you're into that sort of thing) are the individual episode times, and the total times.

When you finish an episode, it takes your amount of time left and puts that onto a leaderboard with every gamer who has finished that episode. This is where the gold comes into play. Although you are never against the clock, you are never biting your teeth in a race to this finish, you feel compelled to make you runs inch perfect, taking a route that will allow you to collect all the gold.

Some gamers will be happy to get to the end of each level, but others will want to play for score. Which I think is where this game excels. The competitive element is quite unique in that it's there if you want it, but no one is forcing you.

Making perfect runs is obviously harder than merely running to the finish, and so more frustration abounds. Especially this time since you know you are against other gamers. Other gamers can do this, but you can't. Why not? Are you some sort of moron or something? Do it. Do it. DO IT!

Later, you're crying.

There also exists a level editor, which is very in-depth. You get the feeling that the developers made the level editor first, and then designed their levels with it. It is a great tool. Mainly seeing as you can make the easy, fun levels that this game gives up on after episode 4.

All in all then, a good game, but more for the hardcore gamer, and paradoxically, with a few bugs only the hardcore gamer is going to notice and get frustrated by.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/08

Game Release: N+ (EU, 02/20/08)