14 DAY TRIAL // Facepalm Games' atmospheric puzzle platformer The Swapper will be swapping its way to Sony's consoles in May.
Released in May 2013 on the PC, The Swapper received praise from both critics and players. Its strong suit is the very atmospheric visual style, which, coupled with the quality of the puzzles themselves, made the game an indie favorite and earned its creators numerous awards.
The game does not use any kind of pixel art or digital textures, instead the developers made all the artwork from handcrafted clay models which were then digitized. The real-world props make for a very unique style that feels very realistic and detailed and sets it apart from similar titles in the genre.
The Swapper is set on a damaged space station and research facility, where players control an astronaut trying to find a way to escape. They have to explore the station and find orbs that can be used to activate doors, allowing the player to progress further.
Its main gameplay specificity lies in the handheld cloning tool that players acquire early in the game, allowing them to create up to four simultaneous clones of the player character, as well as to swap control to any of said clones.
However, the cloning ability will be limited by certain light sources, blue light preventing clones from being created, while red ones blocking the control swap ability, with purple lights being the peskiest and blocking both functions.
Curve Studios are known for various ports, as well as some interesting creations of their own, such as the lovely puzzle platformer Stealth Bastard Deluxe, which the team had to rename to Stealth Inc. in order to be allowed to bring it to the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita consoles, and which is also incoming on the PS4 in March.
The Swapper will be available in May, on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita platforms.