The weirder a game happens to be, the better.
This seems to be the prevailing logic of Chillingo's Contre Jour HD, an iOS game in which your goal is to help a gigantic rolling eyeball creature named Petit across assorted surreal landscapes. It's not a simple process; you'll have to collect glowing lights, modify terrain as needed, avoid traps, and use nearby objects such as stretchy (and nonstretchy) tentacles, air geysers, portals, and slingshots.
Make use of slingshots to fling Petit into a structure and collect the glowing light tokens.
The game is divided into three chapters containing 60 progressively tougher levels. You can move on to alternate levels within each chapter, but you have to collect a certain number of lights within each level in order to unlock the next chapter. Assorted achievements are tracked and logged via Game Center, and the title rewards exploration and inventiveness.
Swing down to the exit portal via the tentacles and you're home free.
As strange as Contre Jour HD may be, Chillingo did its homework, and it shows. Beautifully crafted graphics make the most of your iPad's display while an eerie soundtrack sets the perfect mood. Perhaps the biggest victories are the physics and control systems. It's easy to push Petit around as needed by shaping the ground he's on into a hill, while an accurate physics engine makes it simple to, say, grab Petit with a nearby tentacle and sling him in a certain direction. Other tricks such as flinging Petit from one tentacle and catching him with another tentacle become second nature, and if you can think of a possible move or tactic to try, the game will most likely make it possible.
Collect additional glowing lights to improve your score and help unlock new levels.
The bottom line. While Contre Jour HD functions as a nigh-perfect puzzle game with some nifty unlock features, Chillingo was smart enough to allow the player to bounce around levels as needed. Some puzzles will drive you semi-nuts and you will die over and over again, but it's always possible to move beyond the frustrating points. This, combined with creative design, outstanding stability under iOS 4.3.5, and the promise of cool new levels to come make it worth your $3.
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4.0 or later.
Beautiful, inventive game with terrific graphics and immersive sound. Good hint system. Terrific physics and controls. Player is able to bounce between levels if they become stuck at a certain point. Universal app.
The new levels can't arrive fast enough.
