Tearaway is all about creating your own stories, so it’s fitting that Media Molecule’s latest platformer writes a fascinating chapter in the life of both the PlayStation Vita and brand as a whole.
Run the gauntlet of PlayStation platformers in its 19-year history and you’ll discover a pattern of games that entertain and enthral, but rarely leave a mark on the genre. In fact it’s LittleBigPlanet ‘ Molecule’s PS3 darling- that easily makes the biggest impression. But as a platformer that’s bursting with charismatic visuals, novel innovation and heart-warming good intentions, Tearaway breaks free of the shackles of the past and delivers something worth remembering.
Staying true to the studio’s makeshift visual style, Tearaway casts you as, well, you, peering into a gorgeous paper-crafted world. It might look different to LBP, but it’s all very much in Molecule’s whimsical style, with thickly-accented voice actors musing on the delights of the imagination, while you stop and gawk at the game’s authentic look. Every inch of Tearaway’s setting is dedicated to the paper effect, with blue card rolling back and forth in stop motion glory for running water while origami-style animals dot the landscape. It’s one of the most unique and positively charming settings seen all year.
While you control a cutesy messenger named either Iota or Atoi (dependent of gender), the Vita’s camera is inventively used to make you as much of a character as anyone else, placing your face in the sky for all to see.
The idea is that the world of Tearaway is very much inside your Vita, a theme that’s well realised through the system’s features. Place your fingers on the back touchpad, for example, and in specific areas they’ll burst through onto the screen in godlike fashion. You can then flick enemies out of the way and move huge objects. On paper it’s an idea with huge potential, and it stays alive and well on virtual paper too.
Similar tricks are found throughout, giving the story an essential sense of variety. You can unfold paper to craft paths, beat the touchpad like a drum to catapult your messenger skywards, and even use the system’s microphone to scare off enemies. Granted, it’s not all stuff you’ll want to do on a packed train into work ‘ some of it is best played at home, though the more attention-grabbing actions are mercifully kept to a minimum.
Ideas aren’t overused, but this isn’t so much down to their originality as it is the game’s length. Tearaway can be beaten in about six hours, with collectible-searching taking it to around 10. True, the campaign is revitalising throughout, with a cycle of introduction and expansion of mechanics that that batters away boredom, but it’s evidently a few ideas short of supporting a more meaty game.
But the short runtime will create more memories than most of the games that are/will be releasing for significantly more powerful systems in the next few weeks. A crucial factor in that is customisation, which borrows from LittleBigPlanet in meaningful ways. You can drown your messenger in a barrage of stickers, but where Tearaway really delivers its own brand of paper crafted joy is with the cut out objects that you can create yourself.
At any point you can visit a drawing board, scribble on coloured card and cut and stick pieces together to make your own shapes. It sounds simple, and it is, but it’s used in brilliantly playful ways. Trek up to snowy mountain tops and you’ll be able to sketch out your own snowflakes. In the case of this 20-something geek, that meant a level in which Spider-Man masks gently fluttered downwards as I peacefully hopped from peak to peak. You can put your own stamp on much of the adventure, giving Tearaway a hugely personal touch.
At its best, then, Tearaway will just click. When you’re riding a pig like a rodeo, taking in the colourful sights and being blasted by the barn yard dancing soundtrack, you can pinpoint a sense of joy you get from the genre’s best entries. You’ll have a ridiculous grin on your face and then the game will show you that grin hanging high in the sky. You’ll know you’re having a great time.
Occasionally it can’t help but conform. The game takes steps back when it comes to combat, which is overly simplistic and unengaging. Tiny minions named Scraps will assault you from time-to-time, where the game will deploy that most archaic of ‘clear this area then move on’ mechanisms. In fact Tearaway proves its own point in the final third of the adventure where these enemies are absent and it’s at its most inventive.
There are also a few tears and creases that Media Molecule didn’t want you to see. The game is indecisive with its checkpointing, sometimes propelling you forward after narrowly missing a jump and often sending you too far back when booting it up for another play session. They’re minor issues but it’s a shame to see the game falter on any kind of mechanical level when it’s created something so believable.
Playing Tearaway feels familiar, and I don’t mean that as a slight. This is the rare kind of platformer (Sony’s first, I’d argue) that taps into that unforgettable sense wonder that only the very best entries in the genre offer. Tearaway really only begins to scratch at the surface of that feeling thanks to its brevity, but even approaching those heights is an achievement in itself. I wouldn’t dare say that this is a game to challenge Nintendo’s immortal platforming series, but a bigger, bolder sequel? Well that could be something very special indeed.
