Down Ward

Down Ward is one of literally thousands of retro 2D platformers infesting Steam and lowering the average quality of all video games everywhere... and I'm not kidding. Searching for "platformers" on the Steam store page yields over 17,000 results! Is this one of the best of those? Absolutely not. This is a poorly designed, single-player action platformer. The story centers around a little owl named Gable who ventures into a ruined land to rekindle relics. There's limited graphics options (because 2D pixelcrap) but you can change the pallete. That doesn't help it look better. Platforming is an old, mostly dead genre, and this lacklustre experience, while it doesn't have an upfront cost, isn't saving the genre... it's no surprise this failed to capture any attention from gamers in the era of immersive 3D gaming. This features really godawful pixelcrap "art" instead of real graphics. It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating 3D visuals, or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter. What matters is that this looks much worse than most other games because of that decision, and that's a major de…

Игра 'Down Ward' - это восхитительный платформер, выполненный в пиксельной ретро-эстетике с гнетущей атмосферой заброшенного мира. Уникальная механика передвижения – использование крюка-кошки для преодоления пропастей и стен – добавляет динамики и вариативности геймплею. Исследование мрачных, запутанных уровней вознаграждается секретами и улучшениями, позволяющими добраться до ранее недоступных мест. Визуальный стиль хоть и простой, но невероятно атмосферный, прекрасно передает ощущение упадка и изоляции. Музыкальное сопровождение идеально дополняет мрачную картину, создавая гнетущее, но при этом завораживающее впечатление. Сложность в игре достаточно высокая, требующая хорошей реакции и умения продумывать свои действия. Не все прыжки очевидны, и потребуется несколько попыток, чтобы освоить использование крюка-кошки в совершенстве. Однако, это лишь подогревает интерес к прохождению и делает каждую победу над препятствием особенно приятной. В целом, 'Down Ward' - это замечательная игра для любителей хардкорных платформеров с интересной механикой и запоминающимся стилем. Она однозначно стоит вашего внимания, если вы ищете что-то необычное и вызывающее.

I wish I can withstand the ugly graphics until I finish the game, but I failed. It's too painful to look at, especially the enemy blending in. 16-bit graphics is my minimum but this is Gameboy level which is a pain to look on big screen. Looking at the screenshot I can only imagine how it look with better graphics. I love the creativity of the artstyle which attract me to check this out along with the music which fitting the atmosphere. The mechanics were fine but i have a dislike when these kind of game love to re-spawn already defeated enemies, while we looking to solve a puzzle. I can endure so long with these graphics. Also when i save, I don't even remember what is being save, I notice it only save your last level but not the progress? Disappointing. I do recommend to give this game a try, but i give this a dislike because I don't want to encourage more of these kind of graphics. The gameplay & artstyle couple with the music, it's actually great.

Very pretty and polished, especially for a free game. However, after you've gotten used to the controls and aesthetic, the gameplay gets pretty boring.

lovely game with owls. are good. pls update

It's an interesting puzzle platformer game. I really like the music, the atmosphere and the flight mechanics. The pixel graphics look pretty... but they make the game look somewhat nauseating, and the extra color graphic options only make it worse. Also ran into a bug that causes the camera to zoom in on Gable instead of zooming out to view a larger portion of the level. I also don't understand why the zoom button tilts the screen, as this is a huge strain on the eyes.