Review: Line Rider 2: Unbound (Wii)
Line Rider 2: Unbound is a rare breed of game indeed, one that can alternately have me deriving immense satisfaction, and, within 5 minutes, have me desiring to hurl the game disc into the sun. The concept of physics-based line puzzles is definitely entertaining, but unfortunately in this particular, the implementation comes up a bit short. It’s really quite unfortunate, because when this game is on, it’s really, really on; by contrast, when it’s off, it’s really, really off.
If you’ve read Nintendo Gal’s review of the DS version, there are no real differences between the basic gameplay. You are still drawing lines in restricted areas in order to try and get Bosh, or Bailey, to the goal while collecting a variety of coins. How specifically you want to go about this is up to you; you can go the basic route to get through the level with minimal incident, or you can be like me and go for maximum challenge, trying to obtain all the gold coins as well. Maximum challenge, by the way, can be absurdly challenging. This game is going to require a lot of trial and error.
This is generally the major fault in the game’s implementation. This game is four-fifths trial and error on an incredibly picky scale; far more than I thought was appropriate, I found myself adjusting the tiniest portions of my lines, in order to try and get them exactly right, because there was not very much room for error. Line Rider’s physics are harsh and unforgiving, and you are going to see your little sledder crash in a multitude of hilarious ways as you progress through story mode because of nearly undetectable imperfections in your lines. Later on in the story mode, things get even worse, as you’ll end up trying to get two different sledders to the goal, and the challenge ramps up even worse. What doesn’t help at all is that the camera will stay fixed on one rider, with absolutely no way to switch; as a result, as you’re testing out your levels, you’ll often find yourself unable to see the second rider at all until he plummets to his doom suddenly, immediately ending the test. An unfortunate omission, as Nintendo Gal also stated, is any sort of function to save replays; for some of the more difficult puzzles, you may devise some highly clever solution that you’ll be very proud of, but there will be no way to save it.
Though physics and tough puzzles will hinder your progress, your controls won’t, for the most part. As you may have guessed, you’ll be drawing lines with the Wii Remote; there is an option to directly draw the lines according to where your pointer is with the Pencil, and I’d like to meet the impeded fellow who thought this was a good idea, out of curiosity. Much more useful is the Curve Pen; with this tool, you’ll designate a start and stop point for the line, then adjust the curve with markers until it’s to your liking. Though there was a bit of a learning curve to this tool, after a few acts I was makig curves like a pro, almost every line perfectly synced up to the specific curvature I wanted or needed.
Unfortunately, not all of the control elements work out so well. Adjusting a line you’ve already set is difficult, and more often than not, instead of selecting a line, you’ll move it out of its very specific place, most likely screwing it up forever and requiring you to remake it. Additionally, there is a mechanism in place that will automatically link your line to another if you hold the ends close enough, but I personally found it to be not sensitive enough, and often times I was unable to end a line where I wanted because it would keep attaching itself to another. Most frustratingly, though, is one thing that you’re not even told by the game: if you draw a line from left to right, the top is rideable, but if you draw it right to left, the bottom is rideable, and your character will end up falling through if he tries to ride on top. This frustrated me for over an hour before I actually had to go online and ask for help.
All of these elements combine for a gaming experience that presents an extremely steep difficulty curve. As the story mode starts out, you’ll be having a rather easy time making your lines and reaching the goal, but as the difficulty progresses, the imperfections in the game’s implementation will become more obvious and frustrating. As a result, you’ll not only be facing a more difficult puzzle later on, but imperfect controls will hinder you even more. While I enjoyed myself for the first four acts or so, near the end of the game I was practically tearing my hair out at the difficulty presented to me, just wanting the game to be over with.
There are also two other modes, both of which are basically creation modes akin to the original Line Rider. One of them is more or less a freestyle creation mode, allowing you to make whatever you like, complete with scenery, and watch your sledder go. The other is a puzzle creator mode, allowing you to create challenges similar to those you’ll find in the story mode. For both of these modes, you can save your work and upload it to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, for others to download. I tried to check out the online functions, but was unable to find anything to download. Either I wasn’t doing it properly, or nobody has created a single thing for the Wii version yet.
Presentation-wise, the game manages to do itself alright. The story mode is peppered with various self-contained cutscenes, telling silly stories pitting the good Bosh against the mean Chad; these are done in 3D, unlike the rest of the game, and while they’re not spectacular, they’re not offensively bad. More interesting is the music, which is a bit of an eclectic mix; most of it has a pop/techno influence, with some odd sound clips thrown in and looped, like a banjo or a fiddle. The sound can vary a fair amount from level to level, and like the cutscenes, it won’t stand out as exceptional, but isn’t terrible. Your sledder will also make the occasional sound effect, like a yell, but unfortunately there aren’t many of these to go around; these will get rather old before too long.
Overall, Line Rider 2: Unbound is a good concept executed poorly. The story mode unfortunately becomes too difficult too fast, and after a while the reward of satisfaction is no longer worth the mind-numbing effort you’ll have to put into some of these levels in Story mode. If you’re a Line Rider fan, or someone who could use the creation modes to great effect, you’ll probably find enjoyment in this game; if you’re neither of these things, I’m hard-pressed to recommend it. Maybe give it a rental; the length of time you’ll be able to play it then is roughly as long as it takes for it to become old, that is to say, not very long.
