Perfect Universe Review

Excalibur Publishing are the minds behind the indie title Perfect Universe, a game where gravity causes you to do all sorts of things. You must skilfully make your way through a barren, black and white universe, trying your best to survive through a galaxy that seems hell bent on killing you. Within the first couple of levels, there are saws and trains in between you and your diamonds. You play as three different characters, as they attempt to strike it rich, launching themselves off of platforms and planets, during their quest to collect as many diamonds as possible.

There are multiple different modes you can play that offer a large range of variety, such as playing the classic or playing an interplanetary game of golf, or a game of dodgeball with three pals. The game gives off a cool and chilled out persona, with a calm atmosphere, but the game itself takes some concentration. Gravity plays all sorts of tricks with you, flipping you upside down and right side up, allowing you to jump sky high and glide to the ground. However, if you jump too high, you can find yourself on another planet or platform, jumping away from danger, but instead landing onto it. The game has a fun and imaginative concept, and it feels fresh and clean.

The game has a very distinct design, with bold and brash lines against a clear background, creating objects for you to jump over and catapult off. The different game types force you to appreciate the style in different ways, which is interesting to feel. Many gamers fall in to a rhythm with games where they have a style they like and therefore only play games that play in a style they are familiar with, whereas this game takes many fun factors from other games and pulls them together to form Perfect Universe. I think this game could be enjoyed by anyone, because there is something for all gamers, which you can experience through the different modes.

The multi-player games are fun, such as the golf and dodgeball, as well as rocketball and space race. The multi-player can have four players at a time, so all you need to do is grab a couple of pals and you can have a whale of a time. Playing around with the games physics on your own is fun, but when you have three frustrated friends who just keep floating above their objective and flipping around all over the place, it really brings the game together and makes you think all the time you spent perfecting the games physics yourself were worth it. 

The soundtrack matches the tone of the game, with diverse sounds brought together in harmony to form an enjoyable mix of music. Whilst I personally would not listen to the game’s soundtrack in my own time, it suits the game and makes the calm atmosphere feel more real. There are factors that bring this game together, but the soundtrack tops it off.

Overall, I think this game is worth the purchase. It is enjoyable and challenging on its own, with a rating scale after each level telling you how well you did in a time frame, to really challenge the player in to focusing on the physics of the game. It is definitely a game that can be enjoyed with friends, such as through share play, which makes the multi-player more accessible. However, if you do not enjoy what the minigames in the multi-player have to offer, the single player has over 70 levels for you to enjoy, varying in difficulty from ‘this is easy’ to ‘… I need a new controller.’ If you do not purchase this game in the near future, you should definitely add it to your list.

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