Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressions/24509
Fluidity puts players in control of a couple of unconventional objects: a book and a puddle of water. The game takes place inside of the book, which is illustrated much like a comic book with colorful, if understated panels. The book, known as Aquaticus, has been corrupted by “the influence,” which appears as black/purple sludge splattered across the pages.
Players must manipulate the water and its environment to solve puzzles. The primary goal of the game is to recover rainbow drops. You must get the puddle of water over to these drops, but most passages are initially closed to you, and you must activate switches, find and transport gears, or complete other tasks such as bringing rubber ducks to their bathtub in order to complete the mission.
Tilting the Remote (from NES-position) tilts the entire book, and thus the whole environment. The puddle of water reacts much as you might expect, flowing over and through obstacles, splitting into droplets and reforming again. Flicking the Remote upwards will toss the water up in the air. Water can be collected into chambers where its state can be changed, either to a solid or a vapor and back. Each state has advantages, disadvantages, and special abilities.
In the liquid form, the screen will focus on the largest portion of water, and if any smaller puddles don't rejoin in a certain amount of time, they first flash, and then evaporate. It can take a bit of time to get used to controlling all that water; the phrase “herding cats” comes to mind. Enemies and environmental hazards can also reduce the available water supply, but droplets replenish the meter and reserve meters can also be filled, which are used if the first is depleted. Pressing 1 causes an unseen force to pull the water together, but pressing too long will make the water droplets explode in a sea of droplets. Small objects can be carried along the current.
The ice block, the solid form, slides along surface and can stick with the 1 button. Ice can trigger switches that are activated by weight as well as carry objects frozen inside of it, but can also be crushed. The vapor, or “cloud” form, is a literal cloud that can shoot out charged lightning bolts. Tilting the Remote forward and backward causes the cloud to fall and rise. Shaking the Remote causes the cloud to rain, reverting it to liquid.
The game's physical simulation is excellent, for better and worse – the water sloshes and leaks, making some tasks difficult. But it can be fun to experiment with the game's physics and try new things in order to figure out how to complete the levels. The game also guides players through new situations. Scientific experiments are often described as hurry up and wait. That is, you have to complete complex tasks quickly, but then wait for the results. Fluidity occasionally feels like that. The environment must be manipulated carefully and quickly, but then you have to wait for certain effects to take action, like an elevator moving. Make a mistake, either physically or logically, and you may have to go back and do it all over again.
Aside from the rainbow drops, puzzle pieces are hidden throughout the levels. Collecting these will open up mini-games. These challenges have the side effect of honing players skills with the various water states. I saw two of the games. In the first, fish must be collected and put back into their bowl. Leave one exposed to air too long, and the game ends. In the second, a block of ice is shot off of a ramp over a bed of lava. Gears hover over the lava, and ice can stick to them for a short time while tilt is manipulated to guide the block as far as possible. Though simple, these games are the types of challenges that keep players coming back over and over with the knowledge that they could get just a little farther with more skill.
The animation is smooth and the graphics are like something out of an airplane emergency pamphlet. The music ranges from soothing elevator music (think Wii Shop Channel) to jazzier tracks.
With good reason, Nintendo seems to be fully behind the game, showcasing it at PAX 2010, and inviting me to try it at their offices recently. When I got home, I was greeted with a bottle of water that they had sent to promote the game. Yes, a plain bottle of water. Accompanying it was an ad for the game. They tried to be cute, but can you spot the typos in their equations?
The wide variety of gameplay generated by the various forms of water lead to interesting and quite varied ways to solve puzzles. There's really nothing out there like it. Fluidity launches today in North America, and a free demo is also available. The title is priced a bit higher than average at 1200 Wii Points, but it's a premium title worth the little extra. If you thirst for a unique platform puzzler, Fluidity should quench that thirst.