Sony is probably the most prolific of the big three first party video game developers. The issue I have with them is that, while they do have a stable of powerhouse franchises, when developing original games they rely too much on gimmicks. I imagine game pitches at Sony involve throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and going with whatever manages a chuckle from the executives. This leads me to Tearaway. The PlayStation Vita is jam packed with gimmicks. So what one does Tearaway take advantage of? All of them. Keep reading to see if it all comes together.
Tearaway throws you into the most unique role of any video game ever. You play as yourself. You’re the omnipotent force that guides the main character forward. His/her goal is to reach you. The game makes use of the PlayStation Vita’s camera to super-impose your face over that sun. It’s a cute little feature that pops up frequently during gameplay and dialogue. The character you guide is a papercraft boy (or girl) named Iota (or Atoi) and their goal is to deliver a message to the character they see in the sun. To do so they’ll need to travel across a world consisting entirely of paper. The ground, trees, plants and even animals are all folded paper with details glued to them. This makes for a very unique art style which perfectly accentuates the charming premise behind the story.
This game is best described as a platformer, though that isn’t entirely accurate. The game isn’t so much about jumping from ledge to ledge with well timed and accurate hops as it is about the various ways in which you can interact with the game’s world. It makes sense considering the fact that everything here looks like it was made of construction paper. You guide Iota through a variety of different environments with the ultimate goal of delivering your message to the Sun. The environments are rendered in 3D and you are gifted all degrees of movement. In the beginning Iota can only run around and interact with characters. As you progress he’s given additional abilities (like jumping for example). It’s a little slow going but that’s the pace you’ll need to get used to here.
Tearaway isn’t completely without enemies however. The primary foes you’ll have to fight are called ‘scraps’ and they inhabit a few areas of the game. Normally you’ll have to use the features of the Vita to dispatch them. Things like the touch screen and rear touch pads are put to good use here. Later on you get an item called the squeezebox which can suck up and shoot items. At that point it will become your primary weapon. Combat is, to be honest, a little underwhelming. Iota can take two hits before he dies but there’s no penalty for this. You’re thrown right back into the action and the player is not punished at all. This is obviously on purpose in order to promote the laid back style Tearaway is going for, but it makes these encounters kind of boring to be honest.
Exploring the environments can also be a little boring. The sights are truly great to behold and there’s a lot of unique papercraft scenery to take in. The issue is that there’s not a lot of fun things to do here. Typically you’ll need to explore and interact with characters to progress the story. They often have small tasks for you to complete and these usually have to do with the papercraft theme. You’ll have to apply decorations to them. This is mildly entertaining, but ultimately serves as nothing more than a small diversion. Other times you’ll have to draw items to be cut out from paper that have a direct effect on the environment. It makes the world feel more interactive but I just didn’t appreciate the creative elements of the game. I’m not big on design or crafts though.
When I said that this game takes advantage of every little gimmick in the Vita’s arsenal I really meant it. There are times where you’ll need to shake the handheld, use the touch screen, microphone, the rear touch pads, and of course the camera. Sometimes the effect is decent and somewhat immersive, but other times it’s superfluous. The main issue I have with Tearaway is that, because of the emphasis on gimmicks, it feels more like a tech demo than a real game. It’s almost something that should have been packed in with the system at release. The lack of any real threat in the game further pushes this idea forward. Using the rear touch pad in areas that call for it is awe inspiring at first, but about five or ten times in I was thinking ‘oh… this again…’
And that’s par for the course when it comes to Tearaway. It’s not that it doesn’t show off the hardware, but it does so at the expense of making for a compelling play experience. Instead of compelling platforming scenarios, or creatively designed foes the game instead throws very simple puzzles your way at every turn. Some where you have to manipulate one of the Vita’s unique functions while moving Iota at the same time. These are where the game shines, but for the most part, they don’t require any sort of reflexes or challenging hand eye coordination. It’s a great piece to show off to your friends to show what the Vita was capable of, but as a game? It’s kind of tame.
If there’s one area wherein Tearaway absolutely commands respect it’s the graphics. In screenshots it doesn’t look like something all that impressive, but in motion that’s a different story. The papercraft world is very charming, but it’s all of the animations that are so incredible. Things such as the fountains of water, but depicted as strands of paper shooting up and then falling to the ground are absolutely breathtaking. The game is colorful but most things lack texture. This is because everything is made to look like construction paper, and all details are bits of paper stuck to it. Elements you can interact with are given specific patterns to indicate that you can do something with it. The areas wherein you can use the rear touch pad have the PlayStation shape symbols on it. Things you can touch on the main screen have fingerprints. This is an absolutely beautiful game.
The music is a cool, but nothing particularly memorable. Mostly you’ll be hearing ambient pieces as you play. Each track is pretty charming, but a lot of the time you’ll be hearing single notes drawn out with a lot of reverb. The sound effects on the other hand are incredible. Every step Iota takes sounds like paper making contact with paper. It varies in intensity when you jump as well, and your character makes small grunts when you’re performing any physical action. There’s something that’s euphoric about hearing the paper folding or being torn. Even the thumps from pressing the rear touch screen are really well done. The music isn’t amazing, but the sound effects are reason enough to pop on some high quality headphones so you don’t miss anything.
Tearaway is amazing aesthetically, but rather shallow when it comes to gameplay. This is an excellent display of the Vita’s various inputs, but as I mentioned earlier it functions better as a tech demo than a retail game. I paid full price for it at launch, and considering the main quest took me only a few hours to complete I felt a little ripped off. The only reason to break it out since then (aside from reviewing it here and now) was to show people how unique it is. Tearaway is decent but not amazing. It certainly was not the wholly original killer app that the Vita sorely needed.
