The writing's on the wall at The Glassworks Company for Kapowski, who just got fired for getting a little too creative at work. Now you've got to prove to your boss that you're capable of making it in the window-washing world with your new power gloves and a little high-flying daredeviling.
In Nitrome's latest platformer The Glassworks, almost all of the platforms are vertical panes of glass. Your job is to try to reach the top of the company headquarters by reaching the floating horizontal platform on each level. Use the [arrow] or [WASD] keys to navigate around the maze of glass panels. At times, you will be required to jump from one panel to the next using the [Z] or [N] key to leap (note that this detaches you from the glass), then hitting it again to reattach yourself to the pane. You can also hit the glass using the [X] or [M] keys to push buttons, whack enemies off the other side of the glass, and oth—
What's that? Yes, I said the other side of the glass. There's two sides to every window, isn't there?
In addition to the maze of panels you see before you is the maze on the other side. You can cross over to the back of the windows by shuffling off the edge of a window with no border or by whacking a special rotating glass panel in the middle of a larger panel. Levels will often require you to cross over to the other side to navigate around deadly molten glass and dodging mechanical window buffers.
But wait, it gets worse. As if molten glass on the outside wasn't bad enough, security guards on the insides of some buildings may make a dash for their security zappers to try to fry their floor, electrified tiles that zap at regular intervals need to be timed carefully, and fans require precise movement to navigate around (or being on the other side of the glass). Oh, and one more thing... Just because it's the future, doesn't mean you won't be attacked by the window washer's worst fear... Bird poop.
Analysis: Is the glass always cleaner on the other side? Nitrome's new puzzle platformer adds some unique twists to the usually one-sided genre. However, The Glassworks might get a bit aggravating at times. You'll find that in some cases, it may be impossible to beat a level during the first run, since you might not be able to see an obstacle until it's too late for you to switch over to the other side of the glass. High score runners beware, this will take some extra plays through to finesse your way to the top.
In addition, some levels require intense accuracy to make it through tight gaps between molten glass beams. It doesn't help that the hit detection isn't the clearest thing in the world, so getting from here to there unscathed can get frustrating quickly, especially once the molten glass starts moving.
On the flipside, the glass world is beautifully designed to show that not everything is spotless in the future of industry. With a little determination and your navigating, Kapowski can get his job back and make it clear who's on top of things in the glass cleaning business.
Great game Nitrome! At level 4 now. :) :P.
Pretty cool game, although it's a tad easy. Last level was a little challenging, but it only took a few tries to get it figured out.
Great game as always. A bit more humour injected into it as well, like the
bird saying That's all folks!
or the comments made by the
mechanics.
The sound Kapowski, the newspaper-reading help workers, and the boss makes everytime he talks is a little repetitive, but it would have been very... cheesy... to actually have them talk.
The end comes short but sweet (finished already... awww... I like them to last), so it could have benefitted from 30 levels instead of 20. It develops all the concepts well, though, so no complaining.
The artwork is promising from Heinel, and the programming is great. The way the boss moves adds a little humour to the game. The way they present the 'plot' with him is a nice touch, as it keeps you going
(will there be a showdown of some sort? I was wondering to myself in vain).
To make up for no final showdown, the birds comment was a fine way to end. Pity there was no coloured confetti or something at the end though (like Hot Air 2 etc. I think...)...
I'll finish by saying that the title is the best Nitrome could have given it. In The Factory or Glovetastic wouldn't have fitted the bill, and, like the last review, the reviewer would mention it.
Nice concept, and fun enough to play, but it was a bit short and I can't see myself going back to it.
A couple of the levels were unnecessarily frustrating but the majority were almost too easy. There also didn't seem to be much point picking up the green tokens - I just ignored them after the first couple of levels.
Some minor issues: I found the noises made by the speaking characters incredibly annoying! Why do they need to make a noise at all? I can see the speech bubbles... Also the red-eyed birds were a bit scary.
And finally, is there a way to jump downwards other than jumping up and then dropping? Surely he should be able to just let go and fall downwards.
Overall though, a quality game from Nitrome, and well worth playing through once (or twice if you like collecting points for no reason).
Good game, another classic from Nitrome. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I must say thought that towards the end: longish levels + tricky jumping/manoeuvring + instadeath moving obstacles = no much fun. You either do the last level perfectly, or you don't do it at all since every obstacle in the final level is the molten glass instadeath kind.
Over all though, the great quality we've come to expect from Nitrome.
i have been waiting for a game by nitrome that i liked.
This game is so hard!!!
wow. it's all the grate-climbing bits from super mario world made into a game! awesome. although i don't think that it was nice of nitrome to throw in some molten glass for to kill you with. lava at the bottom would've been better. to keep with what i'm sure was the inspiration.
great game though.
Alright, beat all 20 levels. 18 was a doozy! I wonder about the ending, though...
Kapowski may have shown his boss who's boss, but he's still without a job. Maybe in a sequel, Kapowski will enter a climbing competition for a large cash prize in order to hold off the bills for a while.
This game is very fun. I'm not very far, but it's excellent quality through and through. Nitrome rarely disappointments me too much. :)
Cool game, nice concept.
I just wish that you didn't have to jump up do go down, because sometimes I jump up and hit the bad things by accident. Otherwise, another good Nitrome game!
Nice... Beat it all in one sitting. Took about an hour and a half. Great game. About the review, though... Who said this was the future? Most Steampunk settings (for example, Dirk Valentine and the Fortress of Steam) take place in an alternate-universe version of the late 1800s.
love nitrome platformers
Im currently imagining what kind of article SonicLover could have made of this.
"Dr. Vargas Kapowski fighting for his job"
look in the office building. there's someone recognizable in there from a highly rated video game...
And speaking of video games, the game itself is like the mesh from super mario sunshine.
@Grady: Quite possibly. But the last article I wrote is still on queue... and has been for months, for that matter. I think I'm missing something.
@teds ahoy: I've looked all over the office building (the glass ones in level 9, right?) and I don't know what you're talking about. Also, it didn't start with Sunshine; it was in Super Mario World, too.
as i can tell from from your screen name, you may have not played the game. it's not exactly easily reachable right now. but, the guy(or gal) is still in there and yes, it is highly rated. every review ever given to it (that i have seen) was five stars. and as a passing note, a hint: the character is from an rpg.
Sorry, still nothing.
Pretty fun game I'd have to say. Certainly a bit different from the usual fare, but then Nitrome is no stranger to throwing curveballs in the gaming world.
Can anyone help me with level-10? There must be a way to get to the other side before jumping past the molten glass. I've made it past all the dreaded bird poop, only to have to come back down and look for a panel or window edge with no border. I haven't found one. Any help please?
Thanks, Brad
Brad: You don't have to flip sides. Just continue on the front side for the entire level.
teds ahoy: Hmm, I haven't noticed the hidden famous character. Then again, I haven't played all that great of a variety of video games, so I might not recognize him if I saw him.
On a side note, based on the post on the Nitrome blog (the preview for an upcoming game with the pixelly image)...
I wonder when Icebreaker 2 is coming out. I find it a little odd that it's receiving a sequel already considering how new the original still is... Oh well. I like Icebreaker 1. :-D
Yay i'm not the only one who is sure that the sequel will be
an icebreaker 2 :D
Huh? That doesn't look like Icebreaker to me.
...then again, it doesn't look like anything at all to me.
If you look carefully, it's very clearly the menu screen of Icebreaker with some red text added and a purple sky/background.
You know, I didn't know it was a sequel to
Icebreaker
until I came here. Considering how
new the original was, as Hydra said, I ruled it out as a possibility.
But it is good news; there is more that Nitrome can do with it, although it isn't one of my favourite games...
Can anyone offer any assistance for level 10?
I beat this game before it was in their blog. Started it before it was on their top list, but I did see it on Miniclip. This is the easiest Nitrome game ever. But, the sliding when you jump from one spot to the other and you start going down and grab the glass again cost me much time.
I've noticed something- Nitrome games are getting a little easier and funner. Could it be the beginning of the pixellated end?
The gameplay reminds me of
When Mario had to climb some gates in super mario world. He could also move to the other side via rotating gate, could bash enemies off the other side.
...Glitch anyone?
Not sure how this happened, but I lost my last "chunk" of health while hitting a tile of turning glass and being hit by a machine. But instead of falling down and going "NOOOO!", it flipped over... and over and over. Like turning over, but without the hitting part and repeatedly. I could move, but couldn't hit. Tried jumping, jumped and got stuck just in the air. Now Kapowski's hovering mid-air, turning over and over and over....
Nitrome's games are just getting harder and funner! I couldn't count the times I ragequitted, though :p
I don't get how you can get that parralel moving lasers in lv 18. can anyone please help me?
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