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Matt Thorson is an accomplished independent game designer who, in 2007, released one of the most endearing titles in the platformer genre.  You’ll take control of a little white egg that can survive the longest of falls.  And it’s a good thing too since you’ll be bounding about the game world in search of upgrades and fighting all manner of unique creatures.  An Untitled Story is an Adventure/Puzzle/Platformer featuring colorful hand-drawn graphics.  It reminds me of an animated children’s book. I’m quite happy to say the game has built-in gamepad support, which I highly recommend for the full experience.  In fact, I would admonish those without a gamepad to hold off on playing this until you can buy or borrow one.  For An Untitled Story, with it’s innocent looking graphics, is likely to be one of the most challenging platformers you’ve ever played.  Just to give you an idea the game includes no less than 5 difficulty settings, which also gives it plenty of replay value.  The challenge of this game lies often in well timed jumps, especially during the many Boss battles where losing a life can be costly.  The puzzles offer quite a bit of brain bending as well, though so far (I’m still playing through the game) they’ve proven more fun than frustrating.  The free form style of the game world will have you backtracking quite a bit as you slowly upgrade your character’s abilities, thus enabling access to previously unreachable areas.  Fortunately there’s a helpful map in the game menu (just press Escape) so you can see where you’ve been.  And there are plenty of secrets to unlock as well.

Note: Vague similarities to the classic Nintendo game Metroid are no coincidence

One of the best features in the game are the save points scattered throughout the world.  Not only will they save your progress and restore you to full health, but they possess a special third function as well.  What is it you ask?  That’s a secret I’ll let you discover on your own.  Let’s just say that it comes in very handy.  The attention to detail and extra polish are readily apparent with mini-games, unlockables, and some really fun set dressing.  Not all characters you meet are hostile. It’s a lot of fun to start off weak and slowly unlock new abilities as you progress through the game.  To fully appreciate this game however you ought be prepared upfront for a lot of trial and error.  Getting through an area may take a few, several or many tries before you finally pull it off.  But it’s a great sense of accomplishment once you finally do.

The soundtrack for An Untitled Story is fitting in its simplicity and style.  You can run the game in windowed or full screen mode, though I personally recommend windowed mode for the best experience.  By the way, feel free to grab a friend and try the two-player “Heist” mode, which works sort of like a frantic capture the flag game.

Before wrapping up I’d like to walk you through gamepad set up (since it’s not entirely intuitive).  First, be sure it’s plugged in before you launch the game.  Then start or continue an existing game and once started press Escape to get to the Options menu.  Now scroll down to where it says Control: Keyboard and press the “x” key on your keyboard.  This (as far as I know) is the only way to enable the gamepad.  From then on you’ll need to use the gamepad to navigate the menus, and the Escape button on your keyboard to return to the game.  One last tip.  Always use the in-game menus to Quit and Exit the game.  If you try just closing the window the game make lock up and crash.

Although you might be drawn in by it’s kid friendly graphics I’m not sure I’d recommend this one for beginners – unless you’re up for a challenge and don’t mind learning through trial and error.  For more seasoned gamers what can I say.  Next time you’re in the mood for a solid platformer this is your ticket right here.

Designer: Matt Thorson
Type: Original
Genre: Platformer
Format: Compression Pack
File Size: 16 MB
Control Scheme: Keyboard, Gamepad
Portable: Yes
Version Played: 1.0

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