Tumble Review

By Chris Schilling Published 14 September, 2010

Tumbling block.

Version tested: PlayStation 3

Sony's Move controller is undeniably an impressive piece of technology, but the software so far hasn't quite shown how impressive. Sports Champions is half of a brilliant game, Start the Party is a trumped-up EyeToy title whose main distinguishing feature is that it works properly - and the less said about the mess that is Kung Fu Rider the better. In the absence of a genuine killer app, it's been left to this PSN title to show the big boys how it's done. As a demonstration of Move's capabilities, Tumble is pretty hard to beat.

Let's get the obvious question out of the way: yes, it looks a lot like Boom Blox, but it's not really much like it at all, apart from the occasional destruction challenges which are basically Boom Blox if it went to finishing school. There's nothing as uncouth as throwing stuff here; instead, you're asked to demolish a pristine structure using well-placed limpet mines. (It's a finishing school with access to military-grade explosives, obviously.)

Tumble is actually quite unsuitably named, since it's more about building things up than knocking them down (though it's probably for the best that Sony didn't call it Erect). At first, you're asked to build a structure using blocks of various shapes, sizes and textures. The idea is to stack them to a given height - or rather, three given heights, representing bronze, silver and gold medals.

There's a fine balance between ensuring your construction is structurally safe and making sure it's tall enough with the limited number of blocks you're given. Should you hit the bronze medal height, you'll get a three-second countdown during which your structure must remain intact. It can still be wobbling when the timer hits zero, but as long as no blocks hit the ground, you'll pass, and move onto the next challenge - like WiiWare game Art of Balance, for the seven people that played it.

'Tumble' Screenshot 6

The setting is a kind of futuristic TV studio where every surface has been given a thorough going-over with Cillit Bang.

Most levels offer additional objectives once you've earned a gold medal, such as having one of your blocks pass through a hard-to-reach target, or completing a stage within a strict time limit. Get enough medals on one zone and you'll unlock the next. It's fairly simple in the first couple of zones, with most gold medals within the reach of the average player. Then it all goes a bit Krypton Factor.

That's because Tumble is as restless as a wonky tower of polystyrene and balsa wood, introducing new features or level types every few stages. One minute, you're stacking blocks or squashing them all together on a small platform, the next you're refracting beams of light through coloured orbs by positioning mirrors and colour filters. The starting platform gets gradually smaller, then it spins, and then it slopes, and bonus stages have you solving simple maths problems or completing a jigsaw. Others ask you to reach a certain height using just a handful of awkwardly shaped pieces. And that's when the game's not actively trying to knock your tower down with moving metal blocks or gravity wells or earthquakes.

In some of the challenges it seems to revel in being as difficult as it possibly can, throwing out a perfectly square block just when you'd left a space for a triangular piece, or giving you huge, heavy rubber rectangles when you've got nothing to balance them on. It's like waiting for one of the straight pieces in Tetris. And as if to invite further comparison, a few levels introduce Tetrominoes, with one level - the evocatively titled Russian Limbo - asking you to slot them together as tidily as possible to fit under a metal bar positioned at a dangerously low height.

If all that sounds a little frustrating, you'd be half-right, because for the most part it's frustrating in the best kind of way: tough enough to have you sighing or swearing, but constantly encouraging you to have another go. The soporific tones of an unrecognisable Natascha McElhone - who, like Samus Aran's voice actress, seems to have been sedated before entering the recording booth - inform you how many medals you got, and more importantly, how many you didn't get. "You were only two centimetres away from a gold medal," you're told, and it's impossible to not want to try again. The constant wheedling gets a little tiresome by the time you're on your 17th attempt at a stage, mind.

Sticking points are few and far between, as you don't need to get gold medals on every stage to unlock the next area, but occasionally you'll be required to complete one level before, say, another four open up. If it's one you're struggling with, then you'll just have to keep trying. And while most of the additional challenges can be beaten with a little patience, a few of the timing-based medals seem unreasonably difficult - especially on a stage where the blocks appear in random order.

'Tumble' Screenshot 5

Objects are flipped with a quick flick of the Move wand, the one area where the controls can seem capricious.

One or two baffling design choices seem destined to infuriate. There's the way you're rudely shunted out of a level when you've unlocked a new zone, even if you wanted to try again (not helped by the slightly excessive loading times). Restarting a stage is a good few seconds slower than it needs to be, particularly on the destruction challenges where the game slowly counts up your tally.

Camera rotation is a little too slow, and surprisingly there's no option to adjust its sensitivity; though rarely a serious issue, on the timed challenges moving around to a better view of your tower can eat away valuable seconds. Craziest of all, the option to retry is assigned to the triangle button, with the Move button you tap to skip through stage intros and tutorials returning you to the level select menu via another loading screen. It's a good job I had the wrist strap attached, put it that way.

That these issues - and the slightly sterile, aloof presentation - aren't too off-putting is a testament to the quality of the central experience, the appeal of which is almost exclusively down to the controls. The simple act of manipulating these objects with the Move controller in 3D space with pinpoint precision is thrillingly new and different: reaching forwards to grab a block, pulling it back towards you and rotating your wrist to set it down at the right angle is as accurate and intuitive as you could possibly wish for. Like most Move titles, Tumble seems to work better the more space you can put between you and your TV; it can get a little wobbly if you're sitting a little too close, but recalibration is just a single button-press away.

'Tumble' Screenshot 7

The object of destruction challenges is to try and spread the blocks as wide as you can.

With just under 70 levels, the single-player game is pretty substantial, and there are two competitive multiplayer modes, too. The first game sees two players take turns to stack three blocks, gaining points for successful placement and losing them for any objects dropped, as power-ups earn bonus points or cause tremors on your opponent's turn. The second requires two controllers and is a simple race to build the tallest tower; the camera follows the highest stack, with the object being to push your rival's structure off the bottom of the screen. They're both fairly limited, but matches between two similarly-skilled players are thoroughly entertaining.

Tumble's never quite as outright fun as something like Boom Blox, but along with Sports Champions' table tennis mode it's a terrific showcase for Move, and another reason to get excited about the possibilities of motion control. It mightn't be quite the classic Sony's remarkable device deserves, but right now, this is comfortably the best reason to invest in a Move at launch.

8 / 10

Tumble is out this month exclusively for PlayStation 3.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
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About Chris Schilling

Chris Schilling writes about video games for a living, and knows an awful lot about Pokémon. Ask him anything. (Though he may have to confer with his son.)

Read more articles from Chris by visiting the Chris Schilling archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Haerger #1 1 year ago

    It'll be my very first Move title :)

  • coastal #2 1 year ago

    Tesco Virtual Shelf Stacker coming soon.

  • davisorle #3 1 year ago

    "The object of destruction challenges is to try and spread the blocks as wide as you can."
    "right now, this is comfortably the best reason to invest in a Move at launch"

    Seriously? I was gonna buy Move but I think ill hold on. An 8 for THIS game for a promising and better WiiMote? Im sorry btut i was planning on getting Move for better, WAY better reasons than this one. Always weird how EG rates games. So better than Alan Wake it is.

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #4 1 year ago

    If you have 2 move controllers you can also do:

    Simultaneous multiplayer
    Single player co-op
    You can both do everything in co-op. Both pick up blocks at the same time, both control the camera, both place mines etc.

    Sounds like it'll be a blast. There will be a demo on the psn store from tomorrow (also included on the move starter kit)

    Definitely going to give the demo a go.

    Anyword on pricing?

  • milky_09 #5 1 year ago

    move works well with hustle kings and mini golf game by zen studios... id recommend both... pretty cheap on psn.

  • Dizzy #6 1 year ago

    Playing with blocks... good to see the hardcore catered for.

  • DjFlex52 #7 1 year ago

    wow...there's definitely an intentional leniency towards this game compared to the critical nature of the H:R review.

    Move's kind of costly then, if you want to play with a friend :|

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #8 1 year ago

    @dizzy - the hardcore have Resi Evil 5, Ruse, Heavy Rain, PGA 11. Socom and mag coming soon

    Anyway, who says Tumble isn't for hardcore? I guess it depends on what your definition of hardcore is. do tell :)

  • bladdard #9 1 year ago

    Sounds excellent but still not quite the reason to invest in move but when I do I'll pick it up, I reckon the missus will love it with it's puzzlyness, casualness and blockness.

    @davisorle Why would you buy move? You do know it's not compatible with your xbox.

  • Arwin #10 1 year ago

    Asking about multiple Move support on the PS Blog, I was told that you can play everything with two players co-op, which also means you can play the whole single player part with two Move controllers by yourself apparently? I thought that was interesting. How are the online leaderboards? Would be interesting to know also if that shows if you did co-op / used two Move controllers etc.

  • jefranklin18 #11 1 year ago

    I can imagine this would make a decent party game, especially if combined with drinking - e.g. you have to skull your drink if your tower collapses. Not that I would condone irresponsible drinking :D

  • 3william56 #12 1 year ago

    Interesting: the review at IGN said this was a horribly flawed and buggy bucket of fail (paraphrasing). One specific contradiction: IGN said that a victory won't be awarded if the tower is wobbling (and tested it for 10 mins apparently). EG says it just means no blocks hitting the ground for 3 seconds. There was also talk of multiplayer fails, as placing a block means an instant transfer of responsibility, so the next player gets penalised if your block collapses the stack.

    So which is it? IGN got a bug assed pre-release copy, or EG been staring at glowing balls too long? A sneaky update somewhere? Inquiring minds (thinking of buying a Move) want to know.

  • SteelPriest #13 1 year ago

    IGN is written by 12 year olds.

  • HisDudness #14 1 year ago

    jefranklin:

    Yes! As a devout fan of Drinking Jenga, combining this title with sweet nectar of the gods, would probably bump it up to a 9 for me.

  • xentar #15 1 year ago

    tried this one with 3D and to be honest, the introductory levels didnt catch me, it is precise but i have more fun building block for my 1,5yo son to demolish them. Will try the demo if it contains somethign more engaging but for me Move is about table tennis in SC, Heavy Rain and The Fight at the beginning. And ruse of course, that one i will give a go too

  • rudderless #16 1 year ago

    @3william56 - I completed about five levels where the tower was leaning during the countdown and toppled off during. The game even records the number of blocks you used, so you can end up with a score lower than the requirement to get bronze.

    There's even one level which requires you to place a block on an incline to complete a light puzzle - it just needs to be sliding slowly enough to hit the target for three seconds.

    Re: the multiplayer game, perhaps it's possible for a player to place a block and for the tower to wobble for a few seconds before collapsing, but in every game I played, it waited a couple of seconds before transferring control, ensuring the player who placed the block was penalised.

    I should perhaps point out that I finished every single puzzle in the game (albeit some with bronze medals and some with silver) before writing the review.

  • tancredo #17 1 year ago

    From reading the few Move oftware reviews available, I get the impresion the games are receiving an extra 1-2 points just because of having Move controls and its lack of quality software at this point in time.

    Take as an example the last paragraph: "Tumble's never quite as outright fun as something like Boom Blox, but along with Sports Champions' table tennis mode it's a terrific showcase for Move, and another reason to get excited about the possibilities of motion control. It mightn't be quite the classic Sony's remarkable device deserves, but right now, this is comfortably the best reason to invest in a Move at launch."

    Most reviews of Move games read exactly the same. Just OK games, nothing great, but since we do not have any better available, then it gets upgraded a couple points to a good game.

    Don't know why the bother with the reviews. Expecting the same to happen with Kinect software, by the way. But with Move it is even more surprising because Sony is improving on the tech of Wii, so reviewers have experience with similar controls and software.

  • HarryPalmer #18 1 year ago

    Sweet. I love Jenga.

  • Golgo #19 1 year ago

    Any PS3 owners who gave it WiiLol when Boom Blox came out...thy time has come.

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #20 1 year ago

    Rumour is that it's only £3.99 - and if that's the case it's a complete and utter bargain. I think the review score reflects that.

  • Mkwone #21 1 year ago

    @Dizzy

    Of course it's a hardcore game it's got explosions dammit.

    Anyway rearlly looking forward to this game, have been for weeks. This and ruse will be my move games of choice. Just hope the price isn't too much.

  • KayJay #22 1 year ago

    @ Golgo - Did you read the review this time?

  • YoctoYotta #23 1 year ago

    Boner jokes are funny.

  • Gregolution #24 1 year ago

    The main thing I'm happy about is that virtually every single review of a ps move game on the Internet mentions how impressive the hardware is.

    That's all I wanted to gear, the games will come. I've not heard anywhere close to the same positivity on kinect hardware...

  • Rob_B #25 1 year ago

    I certainly didn't expect an 8 after reading that review. Think I'll go away & read a few more (IGN's to get a comparison) before deciding if this game is as glowing as the review score.

  • Arwin #26 1 year ago

    @antreda: I'm seeing the exact opposite. In the context of people who try motion controls for the first time on the PS3 with the Move, with no prior knowledge of EyeToy or Wii, I think games like Start-the-Party and Sports Champions would have scored much, much higher than they are doing now on Eurogamer, where the reviewer very clearly does put these games in the context of EyeToy and Wii games.

  • smithdown #27 1 year ago

    I'm a bit worried about comments that say that you need to be a good distance from your tv. Sony's guidance says 5-9 feet from the TV is the sweet spot. I sit about 5.5feet from my 40" tv (it's in the attic so not much space!) and I am a bit concerned that it won't operate well. Can anyone who's used the kit confirm what the optimum position is, in their experience?

    On topic - I really like the look of this game. I love the combination of soothing sterility with mind-ravaging puzzles. Any word on what the music is like? I shall def be downloading this.

  • jefranklin18 #28 1 year ago

    @HisDudness:

    That is exactly what I was thinking of!

    Regarding the IGN review, it seemed to be a bit vitriolic attacking many things about the game including the "robotic sounding British woman", still (as the old saying goes) you can't spell ignorant without IGN. ;)

  • neems #29 1 year ago

    I actually like the look of this, I can't believe I may actually buy Move. Is there any word on whether Flower will be made Move compatible? That would be awesome.

  • hardtech #30 1 year ago

    This is one of the few Move games (that i've heard about, i've not really followed development) that seems slightly interesing to me. Its a good concept.

  • NorUraeus #31 1 year ago

    @davisorle: All games are rated in comparison to their price. This is a cheap PSN game and thus its rating is done as such. You can not compare the number scores of a full price retail game and a small PSN games like this. And rating this way makes sense, the alternative is that every review for a cheap game gets bad reviews for not having the production values of the expensive ones.

  • neems #32 1 year ago

    Before I forget, Natasha McElhone is lovely, although it seems a shame that her voice is apparently unrecognisable.

  • Bremenacht #33 1 year ago

    Finishing school. Fnaaaar.

  • Mkwone #34 1 year ago

    @neems

    Flower is supposed to be getting a move patch, but i don't know when that will happen.

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #35 1 year ago

    An open question to everyone; would Kinect be able to do a game like this? Does the Kinect hardware recognise hands opening and closing (to simulate gripping a block)?

  • coolbeans #36 1 year ago

    Fantastic article Mr Schilling. This is the most comprehensive Tumble review I have seen. Well done eurogamer for actually giving the game a chance and proper play (unlike IGN).

    People who actually play Tumble and give it more than five minutes end up really enjoying it.

  • Markitron #37 1 year ago

    Does flower really need a move patch? I can see move improving the controls for Heavy rain and RE5, but flower is perfect as it is. Suppose it couldnt hurt.

  • TopKatt #38 1 year ago

    Why tigerstyle, you surprise me! Making a negative post in a PS3 thread? What's come over you?

  • TopKatt #39 1 year ago

    It's almost as though you're a fanboy or something.

  • Mkwone #40 1 year ago

    Settle down children the grown ups are talking.

  • TopKatt #41 1 year ago

    lol. Honestly tiger, no need to get so worked up mate. The Xbox is a great console, you made a good choice, just enjoy it. You obviously see the PS3 and Move as some sort of threat, honestly at this stage it's not. Both consoles are going to go the whole distance until the next gen and both will be well supported, so just relax.
    Edited by 1 at 14/09/10 @ 11:42

  • KayJay #42 1 year ago

    Also from IGN..

    "Although the button layout does get in the way of the experience, Resident Evil 5 does work with Move controls. Aiming is responsive, firing is satisfying, and it's fun to whip the wand around and pull off headshots."

    Bugger off back to where you came from tigerstyle

  • Gromit #43 1 year ago

    In 2 player, you should have one or more players removing blocks, and 1 player playing as a toy soldier or maybe a red indian firing cartoony sink plungers at the top 3 layers of bricks at a time. They only have enough power to say nudge a block half way out with each shot.

    That would make it really tense for the person building!

  • Markitron #44 1 year ago

    I havnt seen any of tigerstyles comments cos I obviously have him on ignore from ages ago. By the reactions id imagine they are pretty funny. Shouldnt a 12 year old be in school right about now?

  • Moz #45 1 year ago

    @Dizzy --- You'll be surprised how many of the "hardcore" still play with Lego and alike. Everyone enjoys an fun destraction from time to time

  • TonyHarrison #46 1 year ago

    "Tumble's never quite as outright fun as something like Boom Blox, but along with Sports Champions' table tennis mode it's a terrific showcase for Move, and another reason to get excited about the possibilities of motion control."

    A few of these early games seem to have this 'sterile, lack of fun' approach judging by your reviews. I hope Sony learn quickly that 'fun' (whilst being entirely subjective) is going to be an essential factor in whether or not Move is the success Sony hope it will be.

  • Rorsch #47 1 year ago

    Even using a better Wiimote (I assume), and being developed after two Bloom Box titles for the Wii, it still doesn't manage to be a better game.

    Thank you Nintendo for making me have all the fun, years before of all my friends :p

  • Zero Beat #48 1 year ago

    My most anticipated launch game! Love me some puzzly-skill games.

  • INTELIGENCIA #49 1 year ago

    @madgerald: heavy rain hardcore? lulz

  • darc #50 1 year ago

    "The soporific tones of an unrecognisable Natascha McElhone - who, like Samus Aran's voice actress, seems to have been sedated before entering the recording booth"

    Between this and the art direction, I'm getting shades of Mirror's Edge.

  • aphexstwin #51 1 year ago

    @tigerstyle

    'It won't stop the small army of Sony fanboy retards from praising everything about it though, even if it is a shit Wii Remote rip-off and all of the games are shit Wii game rip-offs'

    so i assume from this youre imagining the eye toy rip off kinept to be amazing then?

    fuck off troll, keep in your xbox section, located under the bridge

  • makeamazing #52 1 year ago

    Not really the type of game i would go for, but if the rumours that someone else said in this thread £3.99 are true, then i think that is an excellent price and well worth a try.

    Ah tiger, everyone knows you hate the PS3, but dont worry, you will have to live with the shame that is River Raft hardcore edition soon, so people in glass houses shouldnt really throw stones.

  • TwitchyMcTwitch #53 1 year ago

    Man you guys are so lucky the move comes out tomorrow. I'll have to wait about five-eight days for my order to come in.

  • flanker22 #54 1 year ago

    seriously?? you could just buy physical blocks for 1/10th the cost...

    its a neat tech demo but as a game is overkill.

  • davisorle #55 1 year ago

    @bladdard
    Its retards like you that prove over and over that PS3 owners have serious issues and was making me not buy a PS3 till a few months ago. How the fuck on earth can you tell me i dont own a PS3? Are you THAT stupid? i think that says a lot itself for how pathetic gamers have turned out to be.

    Stop bitching when someone is saying something about your fucking PS3 as if they are talking shit about yout family. Its rather pathetic defending your console more than you would your family. I own all consoles except a Wii and im being flamed cause Im not impressed from the article stating that this is the best reason to buy Move? Are you serious or that plain stupid when you guys vote someone's opinion?

    As a side note, I also have to admit that I prefer xbox fans than Sony's. In this thread anyone not possitivly commenting on Move is being burried even if just expressing his opinion. here you cant even say about how HardCore gamers arent supossed to be impressed by this. Anyone that did got downrated like there is no tomorrow. When on the other hand you just need to check the Kinect's comments. Its rather sad, really.

    To the rest sorry for my reaction. But being told I dont own a PS3 simply for saying my opinion I find it extremely fucked. And yeah there is too many pussies around here incapable to say their true opinion feared they will be downvoted. Well why do you really give a fuck what kiddos and losers think of it?

    Cheers :)

  • makeamazing #56 1 year ago

    Welcome to the internet, where unfortunately everyone has an opinion (even the crazies).... unfortunately if you visit sites like this one (and many others) you had better get used to it, because its pretty much everywhere.

    As for fans, they are as bad on all sides, even the most valid arguments or neutral comments can get buried in negative ratings on EG... the downside of a ratings system.

    So I guess what i am trying to say is that its not worth bursting a blood vessel on it as you will never ever be able to find a site that wont wind you up.

    Back on Topic, @Flanker22, i could easily play a racing game by using two matchbox cars, or an FPS by using my hand as a gun and shouting pew pew... as i said Tumble isnt my thing, but to say that you could go and buy blocks, kinda flys in the face of the main reason for playing games on a computer medium and is pretty silly comment :D.

  • JBlokeUK #57 1 year ago

    Did someone piss in Tiger's cereal this morning?

    Anyway I quite like the look of this, think the wife will too.

  • Arwin #58 1 year ago

    I just tried the demo for this yesterday (if it had been up yet, I would have bought it stat) and no matter how many times you read impressions on the precision, nothing quite prepares you for a first hand experience. It's truly amazingly precise.

    Incidentally, my demo (!) updated itself to version 1.01. So there may be a chance that IGN had issues that were solved in this patch? Hopefully they give some impressions on that.

  • Mkwone #59 1 year ago

    This is up on the US store at $10 so thats promising for a good UK/EU price point.

  • mono_eric3 #60 1 year ago

    It's a little concerning how the slightest negative comment gets downvoted here,yet the most inane rant gets upvoted as long as its positive.

    @makeamazing
    I think comparing racing games to matchbox cars and first person shooters to playing cops and robbers is pretty silly personally. This looks like a very accurate simulation of stacking blocks, not something I would need a PS3 and a Move controller to make more fun. It appears to be only simulating something you can do much more easily in real life, that cannot be said of fps games or your average racer.

    @aphexstwin
    I hope that last sentence was ironic :)

  • DrDamn #61 1 year ago

    @mono_eric3
    Maybe a read of the review and what the game is actually about might be a good idea eh? Do you have many explosives at home?

  • makeamazing #62 1 year ago

    I think comparing racing games to matchbox cars and first person shooters to playing cops and robbers is pretty silly personally. This looks like a very accurate simulation of stacking blocks, not something I would need a PS3 and a Move controller to make more fun. It appears to be only simulating something you can do much more easily in real life, that cannot be said of fps games or your average racer.

    @mono_eric3, you obviously missed my humour/sarcasm there. What i am saying is that playing a console or computer is an experience like no other. Just because you can buy some blocks doesnt lesson the fact that playing a block type game with computer/game based stuff cannot necessarily be easily replicated by a human playing at home (love to see how you manage something like online scoreboards with a non computer based game).

    You dont need a computer to play paper battleships, or crosswords, or puzzle games, or wargames (whats wrong with toy soldiers), or FPS games (you can just use a toy gun and run around).... if your telling me that at home with some wooden blocks can get EXACTLY the same experience, then you must be plugged into the matrix... the game does involve stacking bricks but it also contains much more than that (thats where the benefits of a connected world and computer entertainment come in.).. perhaps you should read the review before looking silly or at least think before you type.

    Ps if you read my comments i didnt say you need to get move/ps3 for this game (in fact i said this wasnt my type of game), i was saying if people are getting move, then for the price (which has been confirmed i think as £7.99) then thats a pretty good deal. Because people may not necessarily want to buy move and then also pay £25 each move type game.

  • mono_eric3 #63 1 year ago

    Yes I read the review, and it would be be foolish of me to suggest you would comment when you hadn't, but Explosives seem to be a very small part of the game (and are an analogy for a slingshot really - again more fun).

    The world isn't black or white. Some types of games are vastly different to their playground counterparts, some are very close. It's the difference where I see the value. There is no doubt some value in this game but I wouldn't call someone silly to state that the difference is minimal.

    I think I'm probably more swayed by the statements about the move controller however:

    "The simple act of manipulating these objects with the Move controller in 3D space with pinpoint precision is thrillingly new and different: reaching forwards to grab a block, pulling it back towards you and rotating your wrist to set it down at the right angle is as accurate and intuitive as you could possibly wish for."

    To be so thrilled to be able to do something so innocuous with such a complex piece of technology gives me the feeling of a short-lived gimmick to me.

    This is not intended to be a swipe at Move, I just think that statement makes the move experience with this game in particular seem redundant.

  • Miths #64 1 year ago

    I just got my PS Move today and have been trying out a bunch of demos, including Tumble. While the Move is undeniably precise and responsive, I'm worrying that the gyroscope/accelerometer/whatever in it might be faulty, as I had to use the re-center button in the Tumble demo a handful of times even just on the first stage, as the on-screen reticle started trailing a bit to the left.

    I've had similar issues in a few other demos, more noticeable in some than others, but probably worst in The Shoot, where the aim would stay fairly centered while I played, but move way off to the left when I exited out the main game menu.

    For anyone who has played Tumble - full game or demo - how often do you feel you have to use the re-center button (circle)?

  • Obli #65 1 year ago

    @Miths

    Been doing the same - testing out all the demos! Nice bit of kit but reluctant to spend £30 on any release games. Anyway, of all the demos Tumble seems to be the only one where I also have to re-calibrate the controller. I think it is an issue known to the developer as they have implemented a quick way to recenter the controller with in-game instructions. I haven't had to do that on any other demos.

    The music in Tumble is relaxed, electro, chill-out stuff. Suits the game nicely.

    To whoever asked, I have played various Move demos at between 8 and 2 feet from the camera. Depends which game you're playing but Tumble seems to work well at approx 2 - 3 feet away (sat down). It's not twitchy, inaccurate or unsteady at that distance. Other games like Sports Champions I've played at about 5 - 6 feet away with no issues ('just' a 20" screen!). i Read that TVs in the background and other bright light sources can cause issues but had no issues with either of those.

    Tumble is £7.99 - if it was up to £5, I'd definitely buy. I'm still tempted for £8. It's very good.

  • Cigol #66 1 year ago

    You probably need to recalibrate quite often because you're moving around a lot; backwards, forwards, to the side, twisting and turning trying to get a particular block into place. That it only takes a press of the 'O' button makes it unobtrusive, quick and simple to perform - so I now do it instinctively.

    I bought the game this Christmas because I didn't have anything 'full' to play and I don't regret it one bit. As a family game it's perfect since it's not bombastic, is entirely logical & straightforward to boot... okay it might not be a big hit with the kids, but adults appreciate it.

    I was probably more surprised at singleplayer, since the range of options and variety in the levels is far greater than the demo ever let on. My favourite so far is a tie between the World of Goo style sticky blocks (and having to build around things without it wobbling) and the light challenges (where you have to direct a laser beam through a level by reflecting it with specially constructed blocks).

    My only complaint so far is that the camera is a bit safe and with no free-look mode you have to make do with their zoom/perspective settings. It can be especially annoying when all the floating score signs get in the way. Other than that though it has been the perfect game this Christmas and just watching people carefully placing blocks in itself is fun. It succeeds both as a game and a technology demo, and for less than a tenner you can't go wrong.
    Edited by 1 at 28/12/10 @ 15:16