TIC: Part 1 Review: Acorn-ucopia of beauty

In a land where names are derivative, our adventurer Tic stands out amongst the crowd. In a scramble to save the robot town of Copperville, Tic must take down the evil corporation called…well, EvilCorp! The robots are suffering from a terrible drought of — you guessed it, OIL! Tic must jump, glide and drill his way through Pinehill Meadow in order to stop EvilCorp from sucking up all of the oil. What Tic discovers there is an ancient race called the Molepeople who promise to reveal secrets if you collect and return their greatest resource: acorns.

If the story’s not enough to drive you nuts – see what I did there – then perhaps its impressive visuals and fresh outlook on platforming will redeem the hardwork that Red Candy Games put into their first Xbox Live Indie Game title. Your main character, Tic, is an impressive machine with the ability to soar to great heights and dig deep for treasure. You control him with the use of 2 basic controls: glide and move. You will need to master the techniques of both controls in order to find the silver acorns that are scattered throughout the levels. Silver acorns need to be collected in order to open new sections of the map and lead you to rare golden acorns.

This isn’t as simple as mashing the glide button and grabbing up the silver acorns willy-nilly. No, in fact Tic has a limited amount of energy that can only be replenished by the sweet taste of red acorns. As Tic flies his way into the clouds, you will need to be strategic in the way you maneuver through red acorns while grabbing up their silver counterparts and avoiding the minions of EvilCorp.

While you’re floating through space and digging through rock tunnels, don’t forget to enjoy the view. What easily stands out as the most impressive part of the game is the astonishing art and the “vivid” HD images that are uncommon to the XBLIG scene. The games runs on Red Candy’s 2.5D JawBreaker Engine – see what they did there – and visual presence prevails as a result. Red Candy does a great job of adding a sense of depth in a 2D world and makes each floating particle and flying bird a believable part of the world.

What is easily the most satisfying part of the game are the skill challenges that carry on well after the story is complete. Rather than moving from the beginning to the end of a level, you can revisit each section and compete in time trials, a one-life scenario, or a “collect 100 acorns without dying” challenge. Each one requires a different focus of skill whether it be speed, precision or strategy. Dashing my way through waves of EvilCorpians to collect all 100 acorns only to die just short of my mark felt frustrating; but I couldn’t help but be drawn in for just one more try.

Unfortunately, despite it’s replay facade, TIC: Part 1 is unable to capture your attention for longer than the game lasts. Once you’ve beaten each level, there is little force driving you to try and beat it faster, much less without dying. What makes things more condemning for TIC: Part 1 is the absence of  the “carrot chase” that Achievements and Trophies have made so popular. While it’s no fault of Red Candy Games for their omission, giving me extra goodies each time I collect 100 of those dastardly purple acorns would have been very satisfying.

In the time that it’s taken me to thoughtfully prepare and write this review, you could have already played through TIC: Part 1 and beaten all but a few straggling challenges in the game; but, this is not meant to be a deterrence. In fact, you should consider all of the things you would spend $3 on during a regular day and compare it to an experience that is visually stunning and mechanically compelling, even if it does only last for a couple of hours. Skip on a couple of sodas and take time out to immerse yourself in a thoughtfully designed experience from a group of developers who could change the face of indie gaming.

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TIC: Part 1 was provided for review by Red Candy Games and is available for 240 Ms points ($3). You can download a free demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

By Michael Johnson at August 31, 2011.