Move Mind Benders Review

Share Review

Move Mind Benders, Move Mind Benders Review, PS3, PS3 Review, Playstation 3, Review, Reviews,

With the influx of ‘casual’ games hitting the PS3 due to the introduction of the PlayStation Move, you may be wondering whether it would be a wise idea to purchase such an accessory considering the quality and variety of titles available. Whether its dancing games or titles combining singing and rhythm, the PlayStation Move has yet to really justify itself as a must buy. Sure there are games such as Heavy Rain and Resident Evil that may allow you to play with the PlayStation Move, but is using the PlayStation Move a better alternative to your standard PS3 pad? Puzzle fans may have been let down since its launch but now they have a reason to try one out with Move Mind Benders!

Move Mind Benders is a combination of 3 games which all require the Playstation Move to play. As you start, you are giving a choice of Tumble, Lemmings or Echochrome ii to try out. You’ll notice the loading times are a little on the slow side, which is slightly surprising considering the nature of content. Puzzle games are not known for needing to load fantastic graphics or processor pulling power.

Move Mind Benders, Move Mind Benders Review, PS3, PS3 Review, Playstation 3, Review, Reviews,

In Tumble you have to build towers using blocks that can be picked up. There are various shapes such as squares, rectangles and cylinders that need to be built upon. You are able to change the position of an object by flicking your wrist. This allows you to plan ahead and make the most of the blocks available. You are meant to build a tower as high as you can and you are awarded with bronze, silver and gold medals depending how well you do. You haveto acquire medals to complete levels. which in turn allow you try out new zones.  Tumble is a very simple game to get to grips with and is fairly engrossing at the beginning. However, after an hour or two the experience becomes more repetitive than entertaining. The graphics on show should be far more interesting that they actually are, you are simply playing with a variety of random shapes to build a tower. The Playstation Move worked fine once you’ve sorted out your perception, because not only are you moving blocks left to right and up and down, but also forwards and backwards. There’s even a narrator in the game whose voice is quite settling and fits in with the sombre atmosphere whilst the background music doesn’t grate on the ears.

Echochrome ii is an interesting game to play. You have to manoeuvre shadows in such a way that your character is able to reach their goal. A light shines on a series of block shapes and you need to manipulate the Playstation Move into a position that allows your character to walk across an object’s shadow. There are yellow blocks that inform you when two shadows connect, and you’ll quickly find that it can be quite taxing trying to link multiple shadows together. To start, you have to shine the light on your character to make them fall onto the shadow. You then need to plan a series of shadow path lines. There are round blocks that act like a trampoline which help your character jump to a higher level. On some levels you have to fashion your own goal because it’s the only way to clear a level. To create the goal you need to combine the circle shadow shape with the square shadow. You are also able to drop through holes to access lower levels. Unfortunately, your little character is a slow walker but you are able to increase his speed manually, this is a godsend because if you couldn’t make your character move faster then you would become very frustrated at the whole pace of  Echochrome ii. The soft music that plays in the background works well with the content on screen. Just like Tumble, the narrator’s voice is quite soothing and offers help at the right moments. Overall, Echochrome ii is quite unique requiring a level of planning that result in a satisfying, if slow, experience. The Playstation Move works well because the controls are very simple and you never have to rush your movements.

Move Mind Benders, Move Mind Benders Review, PS3, PS3 Review, Playstation 3, Review, Reviews,

The third game in Move Mind Benders is the old classic Lemmings. The usual premise is in place, i.e. try to save as many lemmings as possible. Your lemmings can become diggers, builders, bashers etc which enables you to reach your goal. The graphics are very bold and bright whilst the lemmings themselves are as cute as ever. However, the Playstation Move isn’t the best control for this kind of game because when you have a lot of lemmings on screen things can get very confusing and it becomes increasing difficult to select the lemming you want. After the easy going music found in Echochrome ii and Tumble, Lemmings music is quite annoying and you’ll probably quickly turn it off. Luckily, you can fast forward the proceedings which helps speed the whole process. Essentially, this just Lemmings on the Playstation 3, it is a classic game but it’s a very simple yet hectic experience which unfortunately does not suit the Playstation Move.

Move Mind Benders has 3 average games to play that will be loved by puzzle enthusiasts but mostly shunned by everyone else. Lemmings is a classic game but there are only so many times you can keep releasing it and only so many ways to play Lemmings enjoyably. The other two titles are quite interesting if you’ve never played something of a similar ilk before, but they are more time consuming than enjoyable. If you need a reason to try out your Playstation Move, then give Move Mind Benders a go because you are essentially getting three games in one. If you’re looking for something with a bit more action,  then Move Mind Benders won’t be the game for you.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 3 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing to Bonus Stage.

Something went wrong.

  • Gameplay - /10
    0/10
  • Graphics - /10
    0/10
  • Sound - /10
    0/10
  • Replay Value - /10
    0/10
User Review
0 (0 votes)
Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

Share Review