TerRover is a delightful puzzle platform game from Creat Studios, a developer that has rapidly become a PS3 and PlayStation Network expert with quality releases like SkyFighter, Smash Cars and Digger HD releasing in quick succession. TerRover, however, could just be one of the studio’s best, most polished and well-rounded titles to date, and is certainly my personal favourite of the company’s current selection of games available on the PS Store.

What exactly is a ‘puzzle platform game,’ though? As far as TerRover is concerned, it’s a game in which you need to methodically make your way through an environment using all of your available skills – you can’t simply race through a level and be done with it (Sonic, I’m looking at you!). There are obstacles and areas that require a modicum of thought (and at times, quick fingers) to get through, tasking you with being very familiar with your abilities, and to use them at the right time.

The closest comparison to TerRover would be a game like Trials HD, or an old PC game called Elastomania… but forget that old chaff! TerRover has a personality and style all its own, and underneath its shiny, cutesy exterior lies a challenging game of thought, patience and grinning robot rovers, and while it can be frustrating at times, it can also be entirely satisfying!

But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here, because TerRover’s setup is quite unique, and can’t really be compared to those titles, or any other platform game, ‘puzzle’ or not.

In TerRover, you control an off-road vehicle called a… TerRover (short for ‘Terrain Rover,’ I’m guessing), a personality-imbued robotic character that likes to let you know how it feels in any given situation with its range of facial expressions. If you’re trundling along on your wheels and going at a fair clip, TerRover will be incredibly pleased with its progress and smile away… but if you happen to flip TerRover upside-down, you’ll immediately understand its displeasure with the predicament as it scowls through the screen at you.

It’s all very reminiscent of the discovery sections of Pixar’s classic ‘Wall-E’ animated movie (a grand compliment, I’m sure), as you go through your own period of discovery in the game, experimenting with different solutions and having your little on-screen TerRover make all kinds of expressions.

Luckily, an upside-down TerRover is absolutely no problem at all, because its attached head is extremely versatile and able to be placed at the bottom or top of the vehicle, or at the left or right of its chassis. Simply shifting the head to the top of the body will correct the situation, and TerRover will be ready to go again, able to accelerate, brake and perform a small ‘pop’ leap over small gaps. Additionally, the side of the chassis that the head is on will determine TerRover’s direction – if you need to change your course, simply swap the head from left to the right, or vice versa.

This may all sound very complicated, but after playing for only a few minutes, you’ll easily get the hang of it, and before long the game’s more challenging (and downright crazy) obstacles and scenarios will become second nature. The game also introduces you to each of your abilities and examples of obstacles very well, so you shouldn’t ever feel out of the loop.

What kinds of obstacles will you find in the game? All kinds! In TerRover’s series of ice, lava, metal and organic themed worlds and levels, you’ll end up tackling the navigation of rotating objects, objects that unfurl beneath your tracks, objects that act as external vehicles to get you through dangerous areas, swinging and moving obstacles that act on realistic physics, jelly-type objects, ball pits… and more! The range of challenges (and combinations of challenges) in TerRover is terrific, and even if one obstacle looks familiar, you can bet there’s some new twist in store for you.

With all of these challenges, it’s inevitable that your little TerRover is going to meet its doom on more than one occasion, which is what’s so great about the game – instant reloads! As long as you find a checkpoint (of which there are a healthy amount) in a given level, if you happen to die (and explode in a pitiful collection of spare parts), you’ll simply respawn (almost instantly) back at that checkpoint so you’re ready to go again. Luckily (again), you can die as many times as you wish before completing a task.

Although, to navigate the environments more effectively, you’ll need to buy different versions of your TerRover and get different types of chassis, all of which have their own unique abilities (like missile launchers and magnetic grips and grapples for climbing) and weight classes. To buy these new chassis, you’ll need to collect nuts and bolts scattered around the levels. To collect more of these valuable items, you’ll need to revisit completed levels with different types of chassis, although it seemed to me that certain levels are suited to certain types chassis, as far as weight is concerned…

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned multiplayer yet! How rude of me!

TerRover features three distinct (local) multiplayer modes that promise to be gobs of fun with groups of friends, namely ‘Racing’ (four-player race through an environment - you score points when your friends die), ‘Trial’ (two-player mode where you need to overcome obstacles faster than your opponent) and ‘Hotpoint’ (four-player mode in which you need to collect ten stars faster than everybody else). Fantastically entertaining!

And to add a bit more replayability to TerRover, the game includes online Leaderboards that track your best level clearance times, while you’re also tasked with completing each level 100% - a tall order indeed.

But TerRover is unfortunately not all roses and sunshine all the time. This game can be extremely frustrating as a lot of your movement and the obstacles are governed by ‘realistic’ physics. Sometimes this works to your advantage, and sometimes not. During my time with the game, I encountered inconsistent behaviour from some objects and, at times, inconsistent behaviour from the TerRover vehicle itself, sometimes making even the most simple actions a chore to complete. In a puzzle game that relies on both logic and reaction times, environment inconsistency isn’t welcome at all.

Also, the feeling of progression in TerRover simply isn’t there – once you complete one level, you’re unceremoniously placed into the next. There is a story of some description, but it hardly ever shows up to give you a feeling of accomplishment – you’ll be playing TerRover simply for the sake of completing the provided levels and overcoming the challenges.

TerRover is a wonderful PlayStation Network downloadable title, and I feel as though it’s priced just about right with a wealth of singleplayer levels to complete, Leaderboards to rank up in and extra challenges to overcome, while the addition of a fine set of multiplayer modes rounds out the title excellently.

I personally enjoyed TerRover’s unique sense of style and personality, which is enhanced with the game’s bright, colourful environments and interesting detail and animations, while little touches (like menus being different for different worlds) make all the difference to the presentation.

If you’ve got a little patience to spare, I can highly recommend TerRover as a great way to spend your time between triple-A releases this holiday.

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