Avoid: Sensory Overload is a racing game without a race. A litle bit of Wipeout, a dollop of Temple Run, a dash of Zaxxon and a hint even of Flappy Bird, it is a test of reaction times and nerve. At least, it is after a certain point.
The first few levels of Avoid are almost absurdly easy. If you have played any kind of racing game or endless runner, or even if you have ever walked in a straight line at speed then you will likely ace the first few stages and even feel like you are playing in slow motion. This is a temporary state of affairs and if you push through (or just cheat and select a higher default difficulty) then the game quickly begins to offer a decent challenge, then spirals out of control into a jittery, twitchy arcade experience.
Each level is a variation on the same theme. Your little spaceship hurtles forward down a tiled path. Some of the tiles are missing, some contain powerups to boost your score or grant temporary powers like a shield, or incorporeality, and some are raised blocks that will destroy you on contact. You can steer left and right but not slow down. Every so often a voice will say 'Speed Up' and you will. That's it.
This starts as dull as vanilla dishwater on an easy difficulty level, but increase the starting speed, throw in a few moving obstacles like floating bubbles or missiles and things quickly get out of hand. The edge detection is forgiving enough that you can just skim the lip of a gap but still survive and the ability to quickly swoop in to grab a crucial powerup and out again before tragedy strikes is one you will learn fast.
The in-app purchases are easy to avoid unless you really want to reskin the game with one of the two available extra colour schemes. If you do, they are pretty affordable.
The game does have a few problems. It can get very samey quite quickly as you discover the threats that you can be subjected to. The controls - at least on Android - sometimes feel a little sluggish even on a high-end handset. With a game designed to be played at speed, the lack of tilt controls feels like a missed opportunity, as does the lack of support for gamepads.
Despite this, Avoid is fairly well tuned for a quick bit of action that doesn't take to long to play and yet will have you frantically trying to stay on the edge of your seat. Its a limited pleasure, but an intense one while it lasts.
- Avoid: Sensory Overload is available now on iOS and Android, published by NuOxygen
- Read other gaming reviews on theartsdesk
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