On The Wind Review

By , on April 16, 2012


On The Wind
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Reminiscent of the PSN game Flower.
  • Weaving through the leaves plays a haunting melody of sorts.
  • The leaves follow your finger's guidance extremely well.

CONS

  • Hard to see what's coming with your finger obscuring vision.

VERDICT

While it's relaxing to guide your leaves harmoniously through the seasons, not much else is going on in this intriguing take on the endless runner genre.


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As summer nods off into winter, the trees lose their leaves in autumn. This is a cycle of nature, but sometimes adhering to the natural order doesn't make for a good videogame, so On the Wind mixes things up a little bit. In this spin on the endless runner genre you need to take a group of leaves through as many seasonal changes as you can, controlling the omnipotent wind that will either carry these tree remnants through the challenges they face, or leave them to bloom into flowers upon the ground (we did mention that the natural order does not make for a good videogame).

Controlling the leaves is done via your finger as the leaves will follow its trail along the screen. The leaves are very responsive and will duck and weave around according to your movements. As the leaves travel along, they will jettison, so new leaves always need to be added to your clump. Having them touch the ground will cause any leaves that make contact to turn into flowers, yet propel the rest of the heard forward, making all the canyons the game throws at you a risk vs. reward venture. This is compounded by many additional leaves resting on trees within the crevices of the world. Once you've lost your last leaf the game ends and gives you a score on how far you traveled.

For those of you that have played the PSN game Flower, this plays a lot like a two dimensional version of that concept, albeit with more risk and a definitive lose state. The visuals are sharp, conveying a colorful and simplistic beauty, and the soundtrack is emergent, as collecting leaves will create tones to give each play-through its own unique musical score. On the Wind is worth a play, as it's an interesting experience to be sure, but the longevity that would keep most players on board seems to be absent here.

Screenshots

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