There’s a lot of people out there that love games because they let you do things you couldn’t do in reality. I don’t know about you, but there’s a few things that intrigue me about Lemma. The first is that the world is comprised entirely of voxels (unlike our own), and it features a heroine who is able to jump, vault, and propel herself through the air to climb said voxels (unlike me). The result is an interesting take on parkour in a voxel-inspired world.
Lemma is still in development, but the preview build I had the privilege of playing already had a lot to offer. The story is told through the use of your cell phone, which allows you to text the sender back with branching dialogue. You’ll also find papers littered around the landscape which give hints to what might be going on. Its a unique way of delivering the story. The story seemed interesting, and the short period of time I spent with the game didn’t allow me to full grasp what exactly was going on in this bizarre world.
What you probably want to hear about is the hardcore parkour! Well, I have to say, I’m fairly impressed. The controls were pretty good all things considered, with a few exceptions. The game will definitely require skill, but I found the more complex parkour maneuvers like grabbing ledges and wall-hopping to be a little too tricky. I’m sure the developer will tweak those to make them a little easier to pull off, because nothing feels better than hopping from ledge to ledge in a fluid motion.
The environments are simple but interesting, and the gameplay is fun once you get moving. The game also takes momentum into consideration, so chaining together movements while running will produce the best results. That also happens to be very difficult, but hey, that’s what makes games fun, no?