Now this is one heck of a looker. Oddy Smog’s Misadventure is a sort of combination of World of Goo, Sway, Ninjatown and Dizzypad. The goal of the game is to guide Oddy, a smog ball with a quest to find his freedom; to escape from the clutches of the Smog that Engulfs Everything. To do this you must ascend from the confines of the machine that the Smog also erupts from by utilising the narrow walls and gear parts.

Gears can come in many different forms, from bog standard to moving; disintegrating; exploding; slippery and so on. In addition, there’s a number of items that give you a big elevation boost; whether it’s the miniature rocket ship or the beam of light that transports you a short distance and arrives much like an elevator, they can help you out in a pinch. Furthermore, by rescuing chained prisoners that appear on the sides of the machine, you can multiply your score by how many you rescued; even if it’s a risky move going after them instead of escaping upwards.

The hardest part to grasp in the game is the control scheme, which like Sway does take some getting used to. Pressing the right hand side of the screen allows Oddy to grip onto a gear or item, and releasing flings him in the direction he’s facing. You can correct the jump or extend it by tapping the left hand side for a single mid-air jump, which is highly useful. If you land on a wall, Oddy will climb briefly and jump automatically which is great in some scenarios but not in others, as all of the levels are randomly generated; you’ll play different layouts each time you play a new game. However, once you’ve mastered the controls the game feels really fluid.

Perhaps the best thing about Oddy Smog’s Misadventure is its fantastic visual and audio design. The attention to detail is impressive; with each level’s walls being rendered in 3D, lending depth to the machine in which you’re confined. Happily, the background texture changes quite often so you’re not stuck with the same look all the way up. We really liked the orchestral backing to the game, and the ominous sound effects; especially as the rising Smog closed in. Plus, the game has a really nice pause feature that freezes frame, allowing you to see all of the detail instead of it whizzing by. The only negatives we found were the lack of a social gaming platform to post scores on (or even a local leader board), and poor iPhone integration.

Still, this game is a solid buy at 59p; it really oozes style and polish. We wish more games would dare to be different with an aesthetic that’s as unique as the one found here.

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