[Review] Sideway: New York (PS3)

Urban graffiti. All the cool kids are doing it! Ok, maybe in the late 80s/ early 90s. It's still cool though right? Though urban graffiti has passed its prime, it has recently seen a second revival through the glamorification of works in museums as well as the famous documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop last year. So why not get some video game love too? But forget the artists; it's really all about the art. So how about jumping into this unique side scroller as the art? Sideway: New York gives you this opportunity and lets you bring the art to life.

The story consists of the main character, Nox, who is traveling the city in search of his girlfriend Cass, who has been taken by the evil villain Spray! Is this too Mario, Princess, Bowser for you? Don't worry: there is a side kick too. Probably the biggest thing that you need to wrap your head around is the gameplay. Though it is considered a side scroller, the gameplay of Sideway: New York is a little more complicated than most. Those of you who read my review on Cubixx HD might be more familiar with what Sideway: New York is employing. Though you play in a two dimensional plane, there are many planes that make up a level. As Nox travels around the city, he is fixed onto the walls of buildings and that means you'll be turning corners at 90 degrees and even traveling up on the roof. Though this might seem limiting but the levels are designed to allow you to travel across adjacent buildings and actually quite vast. The biggest setback would be that things on the screen are sometimes obscured by other objects while you switch planes, making it a bit awkward, though you do have some control of the camera angle, it just adds an unnecessary aspect that you have to worry about.

Nox's interaction is fairly limited to anything that is attached to the walls as well. However he can grab objects such as boxes on the street and move them to help him jump from place to place. As you travel along the city from wall to wall, the game introduces you to different attacks that Nox can do. Although each seems unique and almost excessive for the gameplay it ends up being unnecessary. But Nox does have power ups that are helpful such as the ability to swing from certain objects or to throw paint grenades. These power ups are scattered across the game as well as extra energy and health.

Though the gameplay is very unique and quite addicting, there is one major gripe that I have with the game. The levels are filled with minions but all it takes is simple button mashing to kill them, and if you do die, you have as many lives as you need to kill them and move on. Otherwise the game is visually breathtaking and the music is appropriately urban hip hop; looks like they made good use of their endorsement from Skull Candy. Sideway: New York also has a local two player mode, but it is identical to the single player and there is hardly a benefit to doing it with a partner. If anything, it becomes more difficult to manage the perspective that the camera is showing as one character switches planes and the other is left behind. However if you are a fan of platform gaming this is one for you to check out for sure. There is enough gameplay provided in finding extra power ups and enhancements to keep you entertained for hours.

Available on: PC, PS3; Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment; Developer: Playbrains; Players: 1 - 2; Released: October 11, 2011; ESRB: Everyone; Official Site

Note: A promotional code was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.