PC Game Review: Play with Fire

Imagine this: a game with poor graphics, a bland concept, less than intuitive controls, and poor camera angles. If you put them all together you may very well end up with a game very close to Manifesto’s Play With Fire.

The player is a little ball of fire that has to destroy various blocks, by setting them on fire and having them crumble, in an attempt to get to a black block and go to the next level. Why does the player have to do this? Who knows. After the first two levels does the player care to go any further? I’d imagine not. 

The player’s little ball of fire has to, on every level, destroy blocks in a certain order in order to reach the goal, which is the level exit block. Some blocks are completely indestructible, others not so much. The ball of fire has to destroy the blocks in a certain order (usually, anyway) so that they disappear in a timely enough way in order to allow the ball to jump on them as they burn or for the indestructible blocks don’t block the exit block. 

The movement options for the player are simple: move left, right, front, back, jump, and crash back to the ground after jumping. It’s a simple enough concept that has worked for numerous platformers and puzzle games in the past, but in Play With Fire it simply leaves the player feeling completely handicapped. Crashing back to the ground after jumping causes a larger blast radius for the little ball of fire’s destructive capabilities, and there are times when this proves useful, but like most other things in the game, it all feels kind of pointless.

If the player does opt to continue playing being the first few levels, they’ll encounter more of the same, over, and over, and over again. While many games are built in this manner, here, every level does is uninspired. From the first level on the game is confusing, it’s incredibly hard to determine where the end-level block is, and a tricky camera that is nearly impossible to control (despite being provided with camera controls) doesn’t make the process any easier. 

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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