Osmos For iPad Is Unique & Lovely Gaming Experience [Review]

By

osmosicon

Osmos for iPad is a unique game for Apple’s new platform. It reminds me a little bit of Spore from Electronic Arts, but only a little. I got bored with Spore on my Mac and iPhone pretty quickly, but I cannot say the same about Osmos.

The app makes good use of the iPad’s graphic abilities, touchscreen interface, and audio hardware. The latter provides nice music and sound effects that make playing the game for long periods of time enjoyable. However, the rapidly changing game play, that made me feel immersed in a totally new gaming experience, was what really made me fall in love with this game.

What is it?

You control a spherical object called a Mote, which resides in a pool of fluid. You move the Mote around by tapping in a direction relative to the Mote’s current position. This will propel it in the opposite direction. If the Mote happens to collide with something smaller it will absorb it and then it will grow. On the other hand, if the Mote collides with something bigger or something that isn’t edible, it gets smaller. If the Mote happens to finally shrink and vanish it dies. Once the Mote is big enough you move on to the next level.

The game has two modes of operation: Odyssey and Arcade. The Odyssey mode is a tour through 27 levels of game play with increasingly hard challenges. The arcade mode creates 72 levels of difficulty based off of the Odyssey levels. I’ve been playing and enjoying the arcade levels the most, but plan on trying to tackle the 27 levels of game play in sequence soon.

You can see various aspects the game play inside of Osmos demonstrated in the video below. Static screen shots that I would normally include in a review just would not do the game justice.

What’s Good?

The game play in Osmos is challenging and moving the Mote around precisely takes some time and skill. The developer throws in some interesting challenges like Motes made of antimatter, screen resizing controls, manipulation of physics and time. The screen resizing feature really makes you realize how very small you are — so concentrate on getting bigger.

You will encounter objects that will attract or repulse you during game play. These can be quite challenging and will affect the movement of your Mote, which will in turn cause it to grow or shrink if you collide with the wrong thing. Eventually you are given access to on-screen controls that you speed up or slow down game play. Things can get very interesting at that point and very challenging. You are now in control of yourself, the environment and just about everything else. It is at this point that the game can get really interesting. Don’t sit idle for to long or you will lose.

What’s Bad?

I’m hard pressed to find anything really bad to say about this game outside of the fact that I think there would be a craving for more levels once you’ve completed the ones that are currently available. However, if you are someone who is more used to playing games with a joystick or game controller versus tapping around on a touchscreen you might find playing Osmos to have bit of a learning curve. That’s a small nitpick and a problem you can quickly overcome with practice.

Conclusion:

I think that the game is worth the $5 asking price since it makes unique use of the iPad’s audio, graphic, and touchscreen hardware. However, it is unfortunate that the vendor doesn’t provide a demo version so you can decide that for yourself before buying it. Based on my experience playing the game and based on the reviews I’ve read in iTunes, avid gamers will more than likely enjoy the app. Others might as well. The bottom line is that if you are an iPad owner who likes to play games it is definitely worth a look.

Osmos is a unique game for Apple’s iPad that will leave you asking for more.
[xrr rating=4.5/5]

Cult of Mac Black Turtleneck rating system:

5: Insanely Great! • 4: Steve Approves • 3: Needs Work • 2: Sugared Water • 1: Dogsh*t frosting


Company: Hemisphere Games
Compatibility: iPad running iOS 3.2 or later
List Price: $4.99
Buy Now: Osmos is available from the iTunes App Store.

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