Playable
by Bryant Franks
Gravity Rush
Sony Entertainment
PS Vita
★★★★ 1/2
So you've got the Vita and you've already beaten most of the admittedly lean launch lineup. Look, it's a fantastic device, but let's all be real, the game's lineup could stand to be stronger. Sure with the wealth of treasure to be found on PSN, there are a ton of gaming options, but each system has that game that you've GOT to have, and as of now, the Vita is lacking. So with practically perfect timing, under the guise of a silly, throwaway Japanese adventure, the Vita's Killer App has arrived and Gravity Rush is its name.
This time around you're Kat, an amnesiac with insane gravity altering powers. Crash landing in the city of Hekseville, Kat has no idea how or why she got here, nor does she really understand how she has the powers to make gravity her bitch. Wandering the open environment brings you into contact with Hekseville's inhabitants, all anime panaches, with the added bonus of not possessing the quality that usually ties all anime characters together, being annoying as fuck. Helping Hekseville's citizens is actually a fun and enjoyable time, giving you the opportunity to learn about your cool gravity powers (more on these later), along with soaking up the absolutely beautiful locale and sites within the open world environment. As nice as everyone may be, fetch quests does not a game make, luckily, the Nevi, strange black blobs, appear intent on plaguing your new home. Seems like the town needs a hero, and because fuck Spider-Man, that person's gonna be you.
So those gravity powers you've got? Well, that's the brunt of the game. With the simple press of a button, Kat flips the finger to gravity, floating mid-air. Another button press, and she changes gravity's pull, sending her careening in any path you choose – so long as your gravity gauge isn't depleted. While incredibly confusing and off-putting at first, in a short amount of time, you'll have Kat jumping off the tallest buildings and changing the vertex of gravity, so that she's 'flying' above, around and sideways through the cityscape, landing upside-down (should you choose). Taking full advantage of the Vita's gyroscopic thing-a-maroo, you can actually point Kat in the direction you'd like to go by actually moving your vita. Used in gameplay, and in the not-to-be-skipped motion comic cut scenes, you look like a dickbag on an airplane, but fuck them, the gyroscope works like a dream. Kat's gravity powers translate to combat also, as she flies into combat, using her powers to dive-kick in ways fighting game characters can only dream of. Once you get the hang of everything, there are few gaming experiences that can match up. One caveat... if you get motion sickness easily... as much as it sucks for me to say, you're gonna need to sit this one out, because calling the gameplay potentially dizzying is the understatement of the year.
With fantastic visuals, a fun storyline chock full of likeable characters and gameplay that is second to none, Gravity Rush is almost perfect – with it's one flaw being that those who easily get motion sickness can't come to the party. With a nondescript name like Gravity Rush, one wouldn't blame you for walking right past it, but to do so would mean skipping out on what quite possibly could be the best game on the fledgling handheld to come out thus far. | RDW
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