14 DAY TRIAL // A Valley Without Wind might be the most ambitious combination of genres and styles I have seen this year, combining platforming with an action element, some role-playing concepts and a setting suggesting a grander story about the rise and fall of an empire.
The game uses a procedurally generated world with a large number of caves, buildings and above-ground areas that the player moves from left to right, trying to get better weapons, enhancements that increase the ability of his powers and buildings materials that allow him to upgrade his settlement.
It’s deceptively simple and everything the player can do feels natural in this game, combining movement, use of materials and attacks to open up new areas, defeat enemies and make progress.
But this is a difficult game, even with normal difficulty turned on, and I spent almost 3 minutes doing the same jump early on to get to a ledge (which held nothing of interest, to my disappointment). I quickly died when I got a little too adventurous and jumped down into a cavern without making sure that I take out a few enemies from my previous vantage point.
And let me tell you this: dying is anything but fun in A Valley Without Wind.
The world that developer Arcen Games has created is very impressive, mainly because of its size and because it manages to effortlessly mix fantasy and science fiction elements, although it is not yet clear whether there’s more of a pre-created narrative to be found or whether each player creates his own story.
Take a look at the attached video to see the first minutes of A Valley Without Wind and decide whether the mechanics and the art style are to your liking.
Unfortunately, despite its varied gameplay and quirky looks, I will probably leave A Valley Without Wind on the virtual shelf for a while because of AAA launches like Diablo III and Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City.
Worth a full Softpedia review? No.