In the future, all of us are as lights. Perfect, shining beacons in the dark, calling out to one another across the endless reaches of eternity. And to get around, we'll all ricochet off walls through glowing neon portals and keep track of how good we are at it with a golf scorecard. Yes, really. We know these things, don't question us. So you should probably prepare yourself by playing the newest physics puzzle ("phuzzle"?) title from John Cooney and Armor Games, Warp Shot. Also, in the future, all currency will be replaced with awesome indie guitar solos, so I'd start taking lessons if I were you.
The objective of the game is simple. You: glowing white dot, hot with destiny. Exit: shining white portal that beckons you ever onward with luminous promises of glory. Click and hold on the white dot with the left mouse button, and then drag your cursor in the direction you wish to shoot. The game handily provides you with a gray line that shows the path you're likely to take, so you can plan your shots better. When you're ready, release the button and watch yourself go zinging across the screen, and plunk yourself within the exit to win the level.
If it sounds simple, that's because it is. Mostly. More often than not you'll have to use portals to get around, bright neon circles that connect to a matching colour somewhere else on screen. Jump in one, and you'll pop out the other. Later on, you'll need to work against black holes determined to wreck havoc with your gravity, tokens to open the door, spikes, anti-gravity fields and more. The game is surprisingly good at introducing a new element into the play just when the old ones are starting to get... well, old. It was enough to keep me playing as the levels got increasingly complex. I just wish there had been an option to disable the sound effects instead of the sound in its entirety. Guitar? Lovin' it. Cymbals? Not so much.
With thirty levels, Warp Shot is just the right length for its concept, and the simple, sleek graphics make it a visually tasty treat, too. Once you beat it there isn't a whole lot of incentive to go back and do it all over again, unless you really feel the need to refine your score to flaunt it in your best friend's face. But it's a bouncy, stylish way to spend a coffee break or two, and will keep your toes tapping the entire time.
Thanks to Arikiko, India and Popper for sending this one in! =)
Has anyone been able to beat -24 for optimized score? Myself and 3 friends did as much optimizing as we could and wound up at -24. I was talking with Mr Cooney, and he claims a friend got -27... but I'm convinced that that score took advantage of some very nefarious glitches that have since been fixed.
In-game walkthrough only shows -9... John didn't exactly give me enough time to try to optimize before he released the game. Oh well. Leaves a bit to figure out on your own. :)
-Tass
Nice review. Scored 20 under after tweaking.
The game was a bit too easy, but undeniably fun! I wonder what that code is for... Maybe a new treasure hunt, like there was in Llama Adventure? That would explain the "prize" for finding all the codes for the computer.
The par display taps into my perfectionism, which makes the game harder to enjoy.
Nice game idea but physics run too slow.
If the physics run too slow, try having only one tab open in your browser. I've found that performance suffers when I have multiple tabs open in Firefox.
Future versions of browsers will be multi-threaded, and that should eliminate that issue.
Jay: Chrome is already multi-threaded (and I think IE8 is too?).
But if you're having lag issues, I made a helpful video on YouTube with a bunch of tips for reducing lag.
-Tass
But neither of those run on a Mac.
Found the Easter Egg.
Obtained by getting all of the orbs on the menu. The code is:
20043
There's no rush in shots, and playing automatically resets the menu.
If I am not mistaken, I did recommend this game. But oh well, won't get fussy. Great game. However, I can't find the cymbals that the review mentioned...
Sorry about that, Arikiko. Thanks for sending it in! :)
Hi, Arikiko! I was actually just referring to a particular noisy sound effect that plays everytime you do a certain thing. Sorry for any confusion!
It felt laggy and sometimes the ball control felt off. It didn't respond well to my mouse.
What do you do with the code from the easter egg?
This game gave me a kernel panic.
I guess it counts in its favor that I came right back after I rebooted?
I like it when games don't give my OS a kernel panic.
I did manage to get -11, and, while I can see how someone could do better than me, I think that -24 is beyond anyone now that the exploits have been fixed. Don't trust the walkthrough completely, though; it shows how to get everything par or under (and it did help me lower my score once or twice), but often there's more than one way, and there are places where the walkthrough gets a slightly higher score (hence me (a mediocre gamer at best) getting farther below par) due to not taking advantage of conveniently-placed portals or the respawn button (the latter especially on level 18).
And if anyone figures out what the code is for, I'd love to know.
I've managed a -13
so far,fwiw (1,2,1,1,4,1,3,3,1,3,2,2,1,1,1,2,1,3,3,2,3,1,3,1,3,4,1,4,3,4),
and I am not good at any type of game that involves reflexes.
[Edit and spoiler added ~ Kayleigh]
I've got a -16
1,1,1,1,3,1,3,2,1,2,2,2,1,1,1,2,1,3,4,2,3,1,4,1,4,4,1,3,3,3
I managed to get -24, with scores of
1,1,1,1,3,1,2,2,1,2,2,2,1,1,1,2,1,3,4,2,3,1,2,1,2,3,1,3,2,2
I think if there were still any more places to shave off from my score, it would be in levels 11, 19, 26, 29, or 30.
@ tildessmoo
-24 is definitely possible without cheating (although I can't seem to get any better); it just requires a lot of patience and some lucky aiming. One useful tip though: using the respawn button to your tactical advantage even if you're not stuck in an infinite loop (since respawning has no effect on your score for the level).
Can you please help me with 22?
"Teeth"
[Edit: Number is corrected. -Pam]
-25, same scores as halluci, but shaved off a stroke off of level 19.
I figured out level 19 with 3 strokes as well, so yeah, -25. I'm still thinking that the last level is possible as a hole in one though; I can come really close, but I seem to always just miss the last portal I need to complete the level.
As for 22, you can check out the video walkthrough, but the way I did it was:
aim up toward the ceiling, you want the ball to drop almost vertically down into the leftmost green portal, the little bit of sideways motion will be enough to carry the ball out of the exit green portal, into the red portal, and hopefully your angle is vertical enough that the ball will fall back into the same red portal in the room with spikes. I've had luck actually having the initial shot bounce off of the ceiling into the green portal.
-19 against par!! WOO HOO!!
How do you score 2 on 25
Update