Wide Sky Review

There’s a group out there that has a bit of a grudge against hedgehogs. Unlike most normal human beings, this group will not be impressed if you present them with one of the spiky critters in real life (they’re actually quite cute, just don’t sit on one), and they certainly won’t be playing any ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ titles anytime soon. This group (they shall remain nameless), has just released an iPhone game called ‘Wide Sky’.

It’s a game, in essence, about hedgehogs and ropes. Apparently, and I quote, hedgehogs are ‘Suspicious, petty and mistrustful of government’, and are ‘Terrible at transporting snacks and beverages’. I have to admit, I thought they were talking about me there. I’ve always wanted to revolt against the leaders of our nation, and historically have had bad luck with taking Doritos and Pepsi from point A to point B.

Because of this, hedgehogs must be reigned-in and trained appropriately, and this is where you come in. Using ropes which attach themselves to clouds (available at any good hardware store), you must teach the hedgehogs new tricks and complete a series of objectives in order to stop their minds from wondering. I hope no one attempts this with me based on my lack of snack skills.

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The ‘Wide Sky’ UI (great rhyme there) takes on a minimalistic feel with a beautiful, clean and uncluttered style and a slick set of transition animations between menus. You can tell great pains have been taken in terms of style and the art direction is certainly accomplished. But it could almost be too minimalistic, or at least slightly mercurial; it’s not immediately obvious what the game is about, and even the instructions are a little obscure. A further lack of clarity is provided with the cryptic, but strangely captivating messages from the hedgehog hating big brother.

By the time you dip into the actual game, you might have an inkling of what’s going on, but don’t count on the tutorial to make things any clearer. All of the instructions make literal sense, but you still can’t help the feeling that you’re missing something (to be fair, it’s a feeling I have almost every day of my life). You can even skip it completely if you like and begin playing the game proper, although don’t expect to suddenly know what’s going on. A little more focus would’ve been appreciated; you occasionally feel as if you’ve walked into class late.

But anyway, here’s how the game works: tap the screen to propel your hedgehog into the air, and tap again to shoot his rope onto the nearest cloud. From here, you tilt your device to build up momentum and swing round. Release to send your hog flying.

It’s an OK control system, but the tilt portion is a tad awkward at first. Continuing with the theme of obscurity, you’re not 100% sure how to manipulate the it for the desired result, until you settle on almost flipping your iPhone around. This of course is far from comfortable, you soon get accustomed, but it never feels truly intuitive. I’m sure there are more efficient ways of getting hedgehogs up into air. Booting them up the backside has traditionally worked well. So I hear. Ahem.

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This is a beautiful looking game. As well as the silky UI, the cut scene and in-game animations are smooth and detailed, and the whole thing is bathed in a delicious haze. The art style cleverly replicates the look of a scientist's technical notes with precise lines and angles that fill the screen, and the restricted colour palette also lends it a confident air of sophistication. You don’t have to use every hue in existence to look nice. There’s a couple of women I know who could take that advice regarding their makeup.

The soundtrack too is impressively handled. It’s a jaunty, dainty little thing; totally captivating and perfectly suited for running through fields of daises with a kite on a warm summers day, which is definitely one of the more unnecessarily delicate similes I’ve ever used. The musical cues throughout the game will make you stop and listen for minutes at a time.

So I couldn’t tell you exactly what ‘Wide Sky’ is about (or even why it’s called ‘Wide Sky’), but I’m having fun finding out. It’s a wonderful-looking and sounding, quirky and slightly confusing title, that makes up in presentation what it lacks in focus.

The most important thing I take from ‘Wide Sky’ is that hedgehogs are undiscerning painters and will spend a disconcerting amount of time trying to guess your passwords. I don’t know about you, but if information like that isn’t a reason to download this game, I don’t know what is.