Colour My Fate
Yes, Christmas has come and gone, and yet we are gifted with a little reminder of what the season was all about, courtesy of a poignant point-and-click adventure. Colour My Fate is the sequel to a charming series of adventures, Colour My Heart, Colour My World, and Colour My Dreams. Created by Silver Stitch, with haunting music by Coin, we dive once again into a world without color (or colour, as the title indicates).
The world of the Colour My series is a cold, bleak place; monotone, full of sharp edges and no human contact. Our nameless hero is once again on a quest to bring color to the world as he travels to complete his mission. And yes, surprisingly, there is an actual mission this time, rather than the ambiguous explorations of the first three games.
Navigation through the world is accomplished either by the [WASD] or [arrow] keys, depending on your preference, and things are again manipulated by the mouse. Sparkles indicate areas of interest, but this time around there are different colored sparkles, and you cannot use them until you have found or embraced that particular color in your heart. Black sparkles can still be manipulated whenever you find them. Some sparkles merely add color to the monochromatic landscape, others manipulate pieces of scenery allowing you to explore further.
Analysis: Considering its predecessors, there is a surprising lack of schadenfreude in Colour My Fate. Whereas the first three games were more of an experience, here we're looking at a surprising amount of pure gameplay, with very little analysis or angst. There's still a little frisson of delight when you pull a switch and add color to the world, but as the color this time around is mostly composed of Christmas decorations, it can begin to feel a little...well, cheesy.
Purely from the gameplay aspect, this is the smoothest of the Colour titles. The choice of either the [WASD] or [arrow] keys makes the game more accessible to both right and left handed players. And for a series that usually eschewed gameplay for profundity, there's a surprising amount of gameplay to be had. In fact, with less puzzles and more pure exploration, Colour My Fate has wandered into almost pure platformer territory.
Those who play these games for the profound message may be a little disappointed with this fourth installment of the Colour series. Colour My Fate does indeed have a message, but a rather lighthearted one (at least, in comparison to the other three). The world is still bleak, but perhaps love has mellowed our little hero a bit. There is still fun to be had in this strange little world, and the visuals and music will still haunt the player long after the game is done. And, perhaps, you might find the true meaning of Christmas within.
Walkthrough Guide
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If you wish to know where all the colors are... (Semi-Walkthrough?)
Yellow
Where the signs say platforms are good for climbing, go up and left
Blue
Where the signs point to security, sky train, and underground, Go right past the elevated platform and past the green sparkles in the next screen
Green
Where you initially dropped down, use the blue sparkles on the lever in the top right and go into the pipe on the right
Red
From the security sign, go up twice, then left and use green to get onto the sky ship
Pink/Purple
Go back to where you initially dropped down and past the gate on the left. There is a tunnel you can open and enter on the left. Don't forget to duck at the live beam!
Gold Star
Use purple to get to the security controls, then you can use purple again to undo the "lock down." Now get on the sky train (keep going left past the sign)
Posted by: Colors | December 29, 2009 4:20 PM