Nukezilla Review: Vertigo (XBLIG)

Vertigo is a game about a character that runs across a somewhat-pretty landscape. So is Canabalt. And Runner. And every Sonic game. There’s nothing special about the runner mechanic; games of this type have become a dime a dozen in the indie gaming market over the past few years. This has lead to the creation of more than a few runner games on the internet and Xbox Live Indie Game market. Vertigo, from the aptly named Run Jump Duck Entertainment. might just be another one you’ll want to try out.

The campaign story, since Vertigo apparently needs one, is that there is an international ring of runners that spend their time making fun of people and performing parkour. This is all played out in cutscenes before each race. The problem is each one is the exact same; characters swapping lines like this:

“Hey, what are you doing here.”
“I’m here to race.”
“No you can’t race you’re a pussy.”
“Nu-uh.”
“Ok, prove me wrong.”
*finishes race*
“Wow so you can run.”
“Yup.”
“Ok go find my friend and race them.”

Rinse and repeat a few times, and that’s the campaign mode.

The races you’re involved in have you running over and through buildings in various locales around the world. Rather than just have a static environment you have the ability to speed around the areas using flaming icons that hang on your route. Hitting consecutive icons fills up a meter which determines your speed and the amount of time you stay at that speed.

The speed boosts are activated by hitting A when you’re right on top of them. Unfortunately A is also the jump button, meaning more often than not you’ll end up leaping over that one boost that would’ve kept your meter going. Calling this frustrating is being nice, as a simple addition of a button would change this. You’ll shout at your TV more than once when you to miss a jump/boost that would’ve allowed you to complete the level in a proper time.

Levels consist of nondescript international cities with boosts spread liberally throughout. You have more than one route through each level depending on if you hit certain boosts, which can send you over or through buildings. Wall-jumping sections are also included, along with air conditioning (?) units that you need to duck under, lest you use up your boost.

All in all Vertigo turns out to be a pretty passable game. There are times of frustration (especially in the campaign, where you need to unlock the majority of race courses), but there are some bright spots. The levels are varied and complex enough to warrant a few run-throughs. Not to mention it’s got a pretty cool art style that looks like it jumped off a Trapper Keeper from the 80s. There are much better versions of runner titles like this everywhere, but if you’re looking for a little change-up in the genre, you could do a whole lot worse than Vertigo.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a review code by the developer.