Back in my A Flipping Good Time review I noted that the game's title sounded a bit hubristic but this game took the liberty to name itself after one of the most important aspects of game design. With a name like that, this game better damn nigh drown me in its immersion. It's a good thing they didn't call this Conveyance: The Game because starting the game up was one of the most confusing experiences of my life.
For a game made in the 2004-2005 academic year, the graphics are quite pretty and stylized. The lack of shading does make the game as a whole look very loud, but oh well. That's just a nit-pick.
One thing that really kills me is the sound direction. As far as I can tell, there's only one track that plays throughout the whole game, which I wouldn't mind if it was actually pleasing to listen to. Unfortunately, it's just an obnoxious chord progression on an overly distorted electric guitar.
The main concept of this game is that you must blend three elements together to create an entirely new element (because that's how chemistry works) with attention to magnetism, weight and radioactivity, which all help you race the newly created element. The tracks themselves are lackluster except for the two main gimmicks that give the game its challenge.
The first of these gimmicks are branching paths, each to be handled by elements exhibiting certain properties. For example, one path may be a narrow metal bar that magnetic elements can cross with ease while another may be a dark area that radioactive elements can shine their way through. My gripe with this concept is that when creating your element, you are pretty much limited to emphasizing one property (maybe 2 if you only fill the bars midway), so this isn't really choice to freely explore the levels as much as a linear path and two dead zones. If that sounded a bit confusing, just play the game and see for yourself. It's tough to put it into words.
The levels are also littered with powerups, which are amplified by how many of each type you collect etc etc. It's a very simple powerup system that any gamer is very familiar with by now.
Overall, the game is fun if a bit frustrating. It definitely has replayability, at least until you figure out that magnetism is the only property worth investing in and are able to zoom into 1st place every time. However, it just doesn't bring anything new to the table. being able to customize your vehicle in order to adapt to the tracks is a very basic concept in racing games.
TL:DR- nothing special but nothing horrible. Just another racing game.
Links
it- https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=487
PS - no, the atmosphere is not done very well in this game but really who cares about a game's title? (I do).
