Review - Monument Valley

by Jon Evans

Format reviewed on iPad
Developers; ustwo
Publisher;ustwo
Formats; iOS 
(iPad 2 / iPhone 4 minimum requirement).
(Andoid coming soon)
EU Release Date;Out Now
First let's get this out of the way. if you own an iOS device buy, Monument Valley now. Forget about looking at the review score below, play the game and then read this review; see if you agree with my sentiment. 
Monument Valley is a work of art, a calm tablet-shaped meditation, a stolen smile and a scurrying breeze of spring air brushing through your cortex. Part puzzle game and part mind-bending plunge down M.C. Escher's rabbit hole, it is a welcome tonic to the insidious free to play games littering the mobile stores like dried, dollar-flecked, vomit. ustwo games have created something mind-boggling and beautiful at the same time. Enough to make this cynical curmudgeon wax lyrical and drop all sorts of hyperbole into your FPS-sweat-soaked-controller-claw hands. I was lucky enough to play the Beta of this game a few months ago and holding back from discussing it was akin to keeping secret the fact that I was dating Emilia Clarke. Now, having played the full version with all the lovely shiny polish and improvements, I am very excited to write about it. Imagine crossing Sony's Echochrome with Journey and you're halfway there.
You control the enigmatic character, Ida,  a wandering princess trapped in a lost Valley where you are tasked to weave through the labyrinthian pathways of impossible dimension-breaking structures to deliver...something. What you are delivering and why is open to debate and is part of the mystery of the game itself. A curious narrative, interspersed with sparse explanatory text teases you towards a conclusion, but even in its final stage, much is left to the player to interpret. And it doesn't fail because of this; here puzzle is King, and the meat of the game is the challenge of reaching the final doorway. 
Picture
With wonderfully intuitive touch controls, Monument Valley makes a great showcase for evidence of the maturity of the tablet as a gaming device; It would be hard to reproduce this experience on desktop or console. Using simple visual clues, Ida has to get past various obstacles with your help, sometimes sliding stone blocks, flipping large sections around to reveal alternate routes or pushing pillars and piles up or down to help Ida on her way. Ida can only progress on flat surfaces, stairs and ladders following wherever you tap in classic point and click adventure style. On her way she must avoid crows who peck and caw at her in either an irritated or fearful fashion and add to the challenge as mobile obstacles/threats on her way. The controls are pleasingly simple and, in fact, you become an almost ethereal observer on Ida's adventure. 
And observe you will. The visual design is stunning, as is the music score. Beautiful, pin-sharp edges and subtle colour palettes blend perfectly with the other-world aesthetic. The variety of the environments never cease to surprise and excite, a satisfying blend of colour, shape and geometry which make each level fresh and interesting. With mock-Arabian and Japanese Origami influences the architectural design of the levels drips Minarets, Onion domes and zellij tiling at every gravity-torturing angle. The impossibility of the structures and the way they unfold, further and further to produce a level of complexity like no other game on the iPad is part of Monument Valley's sheer genius. The music is part pre-defined, part procedural, reacting to your touch as you adapt the levels to help Ida's progress. As always, play this game with headphones to get the best experience. 
Often you will find yourself stopping mid-level, in awe and just looking. The detail is almost three dimensional and Ustwo were very aware of their pride in the finished product. Each level allows you to take a screenshot and share it socially with the same compulsion as a Shoreditch hipster instagramming his organic kale on an upcycled wooden table next to his local craft brew. This is not just a game, but a feast for the eyes, a dazzling assortment of pictures that could hang on the wall in any gallery next to a Bridget Riley or Paul Caulfield. My iPad is full of screenshots of pretty much every level. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I want to keep them.
The game is neither particularly long or challenging, but that is what makes it special. It is not stressful or a chore, and coming back to it, despite the minor changes since the Beta, was like playing it afresh. Remember, that this is cheaper than the price of a magazine but with the caché of a luxurious coffee table hardback. Treat it like a sparkling treasure and show your friends that good things do still exist. 

Wrap up

 Good - Achingly beautiful, pleasingly surreal and enticing puzzles, simple controls and suitably epic music score. Just wow.

Bad - Those with a cold dark heart may be churlish and say it is too short. Seriously? £2.49 won't even get you a Port and Lemonade these days....

5/5
Monument Valley bought by Reviewer
Images courtesy of ustwo