Review: Snapshot

World Press winner or Facebook profile pic?

Imagine how useful this would be in real life

If I were to list the modern trends I find most frustrating then obsessive photography would have to be near the top. These days, everyone and their mum seems to find it necessary to assemble a digital catalogue of their daily goings-on, with budding photographers the world over force-feeding us countless, frozen captures of their lives on a constant basis. Perhaps in an effort to satirise our snap-happy society, Snapshot--the latest in the long line of puzzling-platform-puzzle-platformers--is entirely-focused around a magical camera, with the ability to store real-world objects inside photographs, and re-distribute them about the world as you please.

This wondrous ability is one that, as you might imagine, can be used in all sorts of inventive ways and Snapshot makes great use of its core mechanic, quickly building up from straightforward crate-stacking to reflex-based mid-air photography, throwing a wide range of hazards and tricks in your face as the game progresses, and even incorporating the laws of momentum to create some truly devilish late stages. The difficulty curve is an important factor of any puzzler, and I'm pleased to report that developer Retro Affect succeed with aplomb in this respect, the game ratchets up the challenge at a fine pace, and no two puzzles out of the near one hundred on offer are ever quite the same.

Along with an impressive number of levels, the game features acres of replayability for those who care to indulge. Each level has stars to collect, a hidden item to photograph, and a par time to beat. I wish I could tell you what all of this unlocks, if anything, but the secret items are, at times, concealed amongst the narrowest of pixels, while the par times are very tough to better, often demanding absolute precision from the game's less-than-absolutely precise controls. In any case, I personally haven't felt a strong enough inclination to seek everything out, but this stuff is there and suffice it to say, it's a completionist's dream (or nightmare, depending how you see it). Whether or not you'll summon the desire to seek these secrets out and grind out lightning-fast times is perhaps besides the point; the designers must be commended for including so much relevant content.

Look at all those lovely medals to nab and secrets to collect

Unfortunately, it isn't just the puzzles and par times that'll dish out a dose of frustration. The controls can hardly be labelled poor but in this sort of game, where pinpoint accuracy is often required to complete the more intricate stages, and the slightest misplaced jump or photograph will lead to certain death, it's a real shame that the controls so often fail to live up to the game around them. The system itself couldn't be more intuitive; guide your little robot Pic about with the keyboard while flying the camera around the world and snapping pictures with the mouse. It's a fine example of smart design, and testament to the talent at Retro Affect, but it simply isn't refined to a high enough standard here. The annoyance I felt each time the mouse decided to seemingly triple its sensitivity as I sought to carefully rotate a photograph to the correct angle, or the anxiety I'd experience just before the last jump of a level in case I hadn't quite judged it right and fell to my doom wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't occur so often. 

As you can imagine, there's a fine sense of injustice and frustration after you've spent time solving a level's puzzle, particularly some of the more difficult stages that require some very tight timing, and then find yourself in a fail state and forced to restart the whole darn thing after one little mistake that you don't really feel was your fault. It's an unfortunate issue that one feels could've been solved quite easily with an undo button or checkpoint system. Luckily, each level is a relatively concise, bite-size chunk; it never really takes too long to redo one's progress, especially after you've sussed the puzzle, and there's usually a wide choice of available stages to jump into, so if anything gets too frustrating you can always come back to it later. This stuff helps to hide the game's issues, but not erase them, and it simply has to be said that your temper will endure some gratuitous trying times throughout your Snapshot experience.

Visually, the game can be taken in one of two ways. On the positive side, I could mention the way it reminded me of classic Kirby, with a simplistic, yet colourful and tidy composition. The environments are hardly original, but pleasant to traverse and there's enough variation in design to keep things from getting too stale. It's a somewhat refreshing change of palette in a genre dominated by obscure styles, like the harsh monochromatism of Limbo or Closure. On the other hand I can say that at least games like those, and even more colourful fare like Braid or Fez, have looks that ooze personality, granting them the distinction of a memorable identity. Snapshot unfortunately falls victim to a look more reminiscent of an online flash game than the hefty competition it's up against, with the game's charming tunes similarly cute and polished, but quickly forgettable.  

Some of the trickier levels include snapping objects in mid-flight and re-directing them

Shall we discuss the story? ... Did you enjoy that discussion? Simply put, there's only the faintest scrap of plot meat on this game's bones, and you can more or less see why; just as with the sound and music, the designers frankly didn't seem to be focusing their efforts on giving this game much more than its puzzles. Okay, that's a little harsh; there are a few cut-scenes that go some way to tying everything together, but let's not kid ourselves, the focus here is almost entirely on gameplay, and seeing as how this thing is a video game after all, we have to be grateful for that much. I'd be the first person to tell you that even these days, not every title needs a rich, expansive universe with engaging characters and award-winning writing, particularly games like this. It's simply a shame that the developers appear to have made little to no meaningful effort in compensating for the game's absence of plot, the result being a wholly, for lack of a better word, ordinary experience; deficient in any particular charisma or personality.

Perhaps if the gameplay were just a smidgen tighter, if the look were a tad more striking, if the game just had a bit more of something about it, then a recommendation would be far easier to make. That's not to say I can't advise you check this one out; it's perfectly enjoyable and if you like these sort of games then there's literally hours of brain-teasing fun to be had, the presentation is simple but not at all bad, and in spite of a few troubles, the gameplay itself is more than adequate. On the whole, Snapshot is quite honestly a fine video game, but not a special one. An abundance of content helps to recompense for the game's dearth of character, and if you desire nothing more than a light-puzzler with fairly tight controls, smart mechanics, and a whole lot of stuff to do then it's hard not to recommend Snapshot. Simultaneously, it's not hard to recommend a whole host of games that more or less do what it does, but better.