If you’d prefer a video version of this review, have a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRM13rviz1U
Drone Zero Gravity sees the player control a Drone. The game was made by, I think, one guy Isaac Nichols, and it’s his first game too. Really impressive. I suppose the core concept behind the game is that the colour blue represents the drone itself and things that will help you, if you see purple or red, don’t touch it. I found it hard to give this game a genre, but it’s a 2D action game, and I think you could get away with saying it’s got platformer elements to it. Though, as the name suggests, everything in this game takes place in Zero Gravity, so you don’t jump from platform to platform, but there is definitely an importance placed on navigating the world and avoiding environmental hazards -- which is a pretty core platformer skill that will be useful if you’re good at platformers.
So I really liked the visuals; as I mentioned, the blue vs purpley red was pretty clear nice and early on; don’t touch the purple ♥♥♥♥. The lighting effects with the flashlight all looked really nice, and the lighting effects in general are what really made the presentation pop for me. There’s a lot of contrast; it’s very dark in the dark areas and very bright in the bright areas. That really lends itself to the sci-fi atmosphere. I had almost no performance issues which was nice as well, and the developer put a lot of resolution options in there; as someone with an atypical monitor resolution I appreciate that.
Now, don’t let the pretty visuals and somewhat calming soundtrack (which is beautiful by the way) fool you. This game, at least in my opinion, is tough as nails. I mean, it’s not difficult per se, but it’s extremely punishing. Each level could last from 10 - 20 minutes for me, and while there are plenty of checkpoints, there are things that can make you have to start the whole level over again. If you run out of energy, or respawn too many times at the same wormhole (which are the checkpoints) the game will just send you to the very beginning of the level. And I’ve gotta say the level of frustration I experienced while playing much of this game really ruined the beauty of it. There was one moment that is so well done in terms of production. The music and atmosphere was just right for me in this moment, and I loved it -- until I began to get frustrated. You have to pay attention to so many things in this section, and I had replay it so many times, that I began to resent this section of the game that was perfect in so many other ways. I don’t think the punishing nature of the game is the problem, but it often feels unfair. Though I will give the developer props for introducing new mechanics and enemies continually throughout the game. It always felt fresh.
I liked the story. It was really unique, and some people might even call it a hidden sci-fi horror beneath the relatively light-hearted dialogue. I say dialogue, but there is only really one character that speaks. It still works though, and for most of the game I got this strong feeling of companionship in an otherwise desolate and dreary world. And, I don’t mean that in a bad way, it was obviously intentional that the world feel lonely. That’s all I’ll say concerning the story, I like to keep the story as detail-less as possible for you guys.
Ok so Drone Zero Gravity is $10. I got about 6 hours out of this game, it’s hard to be sure because I did take some breaks to get away from the frustration. I think on the whole, I do recommend it, but be aware that the game is not for the faint of heart in terms of the difficulty. And, like I said, it can be slam-you-hands-on-the-keyboard frustrating. I’m really excited to see what’s next for Isaac Nichols -- this game is really inspired and, despite the frustration issue, has a real beating heart to it. Like I said, there was that one section of the game that hit all the right notes for me other than difficulty. It just felt jarring that something with such sublime music could be so frustrating.
