Friday 23 Oct 2009

When I was asked to review the game “Clover,” I had to ask what it was about. It was described to me, simply, as a “Watercolour Political Platform Puzzler” Indie game. This had me both intrigued and concerned at the same time. Hearing that it was an Indie game, I decided to give it the benefit of not reading all the online hype about the game.

A nice and quick 149MB download and I was ready to begin playing. Launching the game gave me a simple canvassed interface that gets to the point. Your character starts off by receiving his allowance from the king. You discover you are recently orphaned from an attack by the neighbouring Andalans. In a lonely house, you begin your adventure with a newspaper and a gift from the grave. Once I had caught up with the local news, I moved outside.

I was very impressed with the artwork and style used to decorate the scene. As I moved across the 2.5D landscape, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic, taking me back to my Sega Megadrive days…And yes, that does mean I maintain a bald spot.

Walking around, I started meeting the villagers. At first, I was a bit lost as to what they were all on about, but it soon became clear to me what needed to be done. One thing I was soon impressed with, and the “Old School” and “Hardcore” gamers would appreciate this, was the respects Binary Tweed paid to a fallen hero in the industry…visit Gary and take a minute’s silence.

I was also very impressed with the puzzles. There were those that were easy to solve and there were the harder ones. All of them were well constructed to tie in with the storyline of the game. I did find myself getting annoyed and frustrated with having to run back and forth a lot to solve puzzles and when I was stuck, there was nothing really to “hint” me in the right direction. In hindsight, I appreciate it now as it once again took me back to the days where game guides were not available as they are today. You had to use initiative to persevere through the tough spots.

The soundtrack had the right heart and tone for the game, but there is only so much piano a man can listen to before wanting to drop it off a cliff on the nearest unsuspecting coyote. A great effort by those involved, but a bit too much repetition. Fortunately you can still select your own play-list to keep your foot tapping as you ponder the solution to a puzzle.

There is, however, one thing Clover has me completely stumped on. One of those things that have you asking…Ehhh?

In my entire gaming career…I have never had to sheer a sheep to move on in a game. I’m sure that you can see the look of impending fear in the sheep’s eyes. He knows what is about to unfold, and he’s not comfortable with it. Nevertheless, a fun twist to ease my mind a bit at the time.

In conclusion, Clover is a great game that will give you a break from the commercially induced games you come across these days and take you back to some “Old School” platform puzzle solving. The story line has something to say, but I will leave that for you to explore. The great artwork and styling was impressive for an Indie production and has me hoping to see this much passion and effort go into other Indie games in future.

Clover is available now on Xbox Live Indie Games for 400 Microsoft Points.

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Contributor:	Greg

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