No Gravity: The Plague Of Mind

Don't Plague my Heart

No Gravity: The Plague Of Mind is space shooting in its purest form. Is this enough of an indy effort to make this download-only title worthy of its $10 price tag?
Author: Parjanya C. Holtz
Published: March 10, 2009
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All of this is very frustrating because the concept and the core mechanics are top notch. Controlling your spacecraft feels very smooth and responsive, and despite being far from perfect, fun occurs. At least it does if you stop after 15-20 minutes. Playing this game for a longer period of time -- and doing the review I inevitably had to -- will drive you nuts. Especially towards the end there are missions which I had to repeat over and over again on the standard difficulty. For God's sake, add checkpoints, and if you really want to serve the hardcore then simply make them optional.


From a technical standpoint there's almost nothing to complain about. The graphics aren't the best on the system, though they have their moments and overall can be considered as above average. The five ships you can control throughout the campaign are nicely modeled. Explosions really look impressive and the framerate does a good job of staying in steady regions, a few minor exceptions set aside. Unfortunately again, the lack of variety in the environments keep the graphics from really standing out. Furthermore the sound design is mostly done very well. The sound effects are of high quality, while the music offers a good mix of electronic tunes and some more ambient pieces. Custom soundtracks would have been awesome. Unfortunately they would have been.

Interestingly Anozor added something that will make many Trophy/Achievement whores out there get a warm and fuzzy feeling around their belly buttons: Entitlements! Out of all reason Sony did not use this fantastic opportunity to implement and promote a real Trophy system for the PSP. Still, this sheers hopes for the future. Though I believe we won't be seeing real Trophy support for the PSP until its successor hits stores, maybe at the end of the year? You heard it here first...!

In the end let me say that despite my constant bragging about No Gravity it is very admirable of Sony to give indy developers a chance in the commercial gaming business. As I mentioned a couple of times: This title shows a lot of promise and it really could have been great with some more care and time put into its development. You can tell that the guys behind No Gravity have a lot of potential and talent, and maybe they will stun us the next time around. I for my part really hope that Sony keeps this commendable strategy going.

If you have a heart then get into the PlayStation Store and give No Gravity: The Plague Of Mind a chance, despite its many faults. Just don't expect to be blown away.
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The Verdict
6.5

Indy through and through. What it lacks in variety it makes up in sympathy – almost. In its best moments it reminds us of Descent. In its worst moments it reminds us of all the stuff we need to get done urgently. Like washing those old stinking socks.

7.5Graphics:

Some very cool effects, a steady framerate and detailed spacecrafts make this a rather impressive looking PSP game. What dumps the graphics score is a lack of environmental variety.

8.0Sound:

Like the graphics, the sound manages to impress. Be it funky electronic melodies or the game's sound effects: It's all thumbs up here.

7.5Control:

You will mostly have good control over your spacecraft, both in first person and third person view. So nothing mentionable to complain about here.

6.0Gameplay:

Shooting, shooting and shooting. Add some more dying and a bit of aiming and that's about it. Variety would have been the magic word here. Monotony sadly dominates this game's feel.