PREVIEW – When hearing the name EA, we usually associate the name with well vetted series such as Battlefield or the NFS series, not to mention all the big sport titles. However it seems that the company would like to get out of the rut they made for themselves. Well at least that seems to be the case with their newest project called Unravel, which leaves behind everything the company usually is for, and is more of a family friendly game.

Unravel is not only for kids, and the game is not strictly for children, but for everyone. With all the information released about the game, it has become one of the most anticipated titles of 2016.

On needles

According to the story we need to help a sad grandmother, who feels alone, and her family does not seem to care about her. The yarn which came alive decides to help the poor soul, and bring the family closer together. So that the sad grandmother would become finally happy. It is a noble goal, especially for a yarn creature.

The basic story is held together by a not so basic gameplay that will entertain players for a lot longer than we would have initially thought. Although there is no danger of us restarting the mission for twentieth time, but some of the missions will be really difficult for the first time. The puzzle elements are complex and not always straightforward, we might get mixed up in them. This will not be a problem especially since it will up the difficulty for the game, which to be honest is really needed even in a simple platformer.

I would like a Swedish beer please

The footage, and pictures of the game have been really impressive. The game looks great, the background and the detail of the game can be astonishing. We even dare to say that the program runs in photorealistic levels, while we hop from one level to another with our yarn creatures to bring the distanced family together.

The entirely 3D environment also helps the game, as there are elements that blend into the gameplay which we would usually not expect to. For example in the gameplay video where we can see the Party section where Yarni, tries to jump on rocks to get to the other side of the river, and the water in the background actually makes the crossing more difficult. So events happening in the background will affect our gameplay, but Unravel does it really good.

It is terrifically fun to see how the water goes up and back allowing us to cross certain parts. When we finally reach our destination – which is unfortunately not the first Swedish Pub – a beautiful 3D modelled location we will encounter a lot of puzzles that can be difficult or easy.

Untied

Let’s talk about the gameplay, as we kept mentioning it for a while now. Although Unravel is fully 3D in terms of environments, we can only move on the 2D plain. We can go right or left, and jump, so it is a simple platformer from Electronic Arts. Simple yet elegant as the end result is so complex and fun to do that we were left in awe after the first video (Not to mention about the Gamescon demo).

Even though we control a Yarn creature we are not entirely defenseless against the forces of natures, and annoying obstacles. Well not as much as we initially would think. We can wrap our yarn around objects in the game world, and this results in several fun gameplay sections. We can form a bridge between Point A and B, transport items such as bottles, gravel, and other useful items later down the line.

Of course we need to be careful as at some point we will run out of Yarn which is our health bar, and when the entire thing is used up the sad end occurs. Luckily the game will not throw us back too much to the beginning, so no need to worry or be angry about having to restart the entire level. We will actually be able to fix this issue ourselves by collecting the yarn stuck on objects, and tying it to ourselves to add more health to our health bar.

Very SMART Thanks…

Unravel  looks to be a great product and we cannot wait here at PS4PRO to try it out, and test for you: our readers. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait with this as the game will be released in 2016 Q1, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, so every platform gets to enjoy Yarni’s adventure, the latest family-centric superhero.

It might be one of the more prominent games in 2016 that is reminiscent of the old platofrmer game style, which we hadn’t gotten in a long time. Of course this is also because the game looks stunning, and the gameplay is creative, fun and yet complex. The background music generates a great atmosphere for the player, and the environment is lovely thanks to the 3D models. The difficulty seems to be just right, not too difficult nor too easy, so we are expecting this game to be loved by many for a long time even after its initial release.

The idea is great, and the execution looks marvelous. I cannot wait for this game to be released to start Yarni’s adventure. Although I am not much of a platformer but EA’s Unravel has got me hyped and ready for some puzzles!.

-Kese-

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Coldwood Interactive

Genre: Platformer

Publication Q1 2016