Cross The Line Review

By , on December 26, 2012


Cross The Line
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Great use of a chalkboard aesthetic.
  • Some interesting properties given to blocks to change gameplay.

CONS

  • Very poor gesture recognition when drawing the initial line to propel the ball.

VERDICT

Another physics puzzle game yes, but this one has some clever design and charm to help it stand out.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

It's been a while since we've seen the old doodle art aesthetic, although to be fair to Cross the Line, it's less 'doodle art' and more emulating a chalkboard, so maybe we should all ignore this sentence and continue fresh. CTL is a physics flinger in which the goal is to, you guessed it, cross the line. There's a circle, and a tiny line. You need to get the circle to cross that line through the use of momentum, and whatever crazy additions the game decides to throw at you. Oh, there's also a star to collect in each level as well.

The levels are simple, straightforward, and the game does a good job of slowly adding new mechanics and creating interesting levels not only to work out those mechanics, but to have a good old fashioned play around in. The main problem though is that flinging your circle is very counter-intuitive and closer to what you might call broken. The issue is with gesture recognition. The game has a hard time of recognizing when you've placed your finger on the circle with the expressed desire to send it careening somewhere in the level. It can take a bit of finagling, and in levels when you need to time your shot, this just becomes frustrating. The rebounds don't feel especially solid either. It seems that hitting the same spot with the same velocity can produce different effects in where the circle travels, and this is if you can even replicate your shots as there are no guides... oh, and if you miss a shot, the retry button is hidden the pause menu instead of being on the screen.

So when it comes down to it, Cross the Line uses a fun presentation, and has a lot of great design ideas, but the controls themselves let down the whole experience. If these issues can be addressed by the developers, then this could easily be an easy recommend for fans of the physics puzzle game.

Screenshots

Screenshot 1 of 10 Screenshot 2 of 10 Screenshot 3 of 10 Screenshot 4 of 10 Screenshot 5 of 10 Screenshot 6 of 10 Screenshot 7 of 10 Screenshot 8 of 10 Screenshot 9 of 10 Screenshot 10 of 10