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IGN Review of Tornado Outbreak
Every once in a while, I am genuinely surprised by a videogame. Some unfamiliar little number will saunter up to my desk, appear bland on the outside and then -- all of a sudden -- turn out to be extremely enjoyable. Tornado Outbreak is one of those games. Although Tornado Outbreak might look like a budget title on the outside, the quality of the gameplay far outshines its flaws. Even though the experience might be a bit familiar to Katamari Damacy fans, I'd say developer Loose Cannon has done a fine job with its first official project.
If you're not familiar with Loose Cannon, don't worry -- the studio was only "announced" last May. Founded in 2005 by former members of Sucker Punch, Loose Cannon is based in Seattle, Washington and -- from the looks of the Tornado Outbreak credits -- is still a fairly small team.
Tornado Outbreak, however, is much more than a budget-level title. Borrowing gameplay mechanics from games like Katamari Damacy, Tornado Outbreak tasks you with destroying different locales around the world in order to save the entire planet. Yes, it might sound a bit backwards at first, but there's actually a story to go along with the destruction. You see, during an interstellar mission, a group of Wind Warriors (elemental spirits tasked with making uninhabitable planets habitable) encounters the anti-matter hero, Omegaton. Omegaton's power orbs were stolen by a group of fire elementals called Fire Fliers and the orbs were scattered across Earth. Your job as Zephyr -- the apprentice to the great Nimbus -- is to uncover the Fire Fliers, destroy their devious fire totems and find Omegaton's power orbs. In order to do all this, you need to wreck all sorts of stuff.
The fact that an entertaining (albeit simplistic) story was including in Tornado Outbreak shows that this is more than just a quick Katamari knock-off. Although certain moments in Tornado Outbreak feel incredibly cheap, like the very first still menu, the animated cutscenes are actually quite easy on the eyes and tell a respectable story about the Wind Warrior's perilous mission. It's all family-friendly and somewhat predictable, but it's still a fine complement to the gameplay.
Of course, the gameplay is the real highlight of the Tornado Outbreak experience. Each level, besides the tutorial sections, is split up into three different zones. In each zone, you must start off as a very small, harmless tornado and work your way up into a city-smashing spiral by destroying various objects and growing as you suck up more junk. Things you can actually pick up and destroy will rattle as you approach them, which is a great visual cue while tearing through a stage.
As you progress through the game, more and more gameplay mechanics are introduced, which helps keep the experience fresh. For example, once you learn the basics of destroying buildings, Tornado Outbreak introduces Fire Flier catching. In order to advance to the next zone and extend your time limit, players must find Fire Fliers that are hidden in different objects and absorb them. Players have the option of chaining these catches together by holding down a button and collecting more Fire Fliers while a blue ring of light surrounds your tornado. To turn this into a challenge as opposed to a free chaining device, your tornado will start to slow down the longer you hold down the button, until eventually the Fire Fliers you currently have trapped will be absorbed all at once.
After this technique becomes second nature, the game opens up the Stone Stomp, which gives your tornado the ability to hop up and then stomp down on the ground to more quickly destroy nearby objects. More techniques are revealed after this, too, so there's much more to Tornado Outbreak than just fooling around with the analog stick.
At the end of the final zone for each level, Zephyr must participate in a Vortex Race, followed by a Totem Battle. A Vortex Race entails speeding around a pre-set course and flying through a series of gates. Totem Battles, on the other hand, serve as the game's "boss battles" and combine some careful environmental navigation with crazy intense button-mashing.
Another aspect of Tornado Outbreak I really enjoyed was the usage of light and darkness. As Wind Warriors are extremely weak against UV radiation, you have to stay in the cover of clouds in order to survive. Normally, this translates into keeping within certain boundaries during normal play, but it quickly becomes an important gameplay element during the Totem Battles. You'll have to hastily navigate shadowy patches of earth in order to avoid the sunlight, all while dodging giant balls of fire flying at your face. Just another Friday night here at IGN.
Despite feeling a bit low-budget and being a fairly short game, Tornado Outbreak is still surprisingly fun. The art style is cute, even though the visuals might not technically cut it, and the music is fantastic and themed appropriately for each location. Although you can beat Tornado Outbreak in less than five hours, there's plenty to do in previous stages after you earn all your powers, so there's some replay value to be found there.
©2009-10-05, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
If you're not familiar with Loose Cannon, don't worry -- the studio was only "announced" last May. Founded in 2005 by former members of Sucker Punch, Loose Cannon is based in Seattle, Washington and -- from the looks of the Tornado Outbreak credits -- is still a fairly small team.
Tornado Outbreak, however, is much more than a budget-level title. Borrowing gameplay mechanics from games like Katamari Damacy, Tornado Outbreak tasks you with destroying different locales around the world in order to save the entire planet. Yes, it might sound a bit backwards at first, but there's actually a story to go along with the destruction. You see, during an interstellar mission, a group of Wind Warriors (elemental spirits tasked with making uninhabitable planets habitable) encounters the anti-matter hero, Omegaton. Omegaton's power orbs were stolen by a group of fire elementals called Fire Fliers and the orbs were scattered across Earth. Your job as Zephyr -- the apprentice to the great Nimbus -- is to uncover the Fire Fliers, destroy their devious fire totems and find Omegaton's power orbs. In order to do all this, you need to wreck all sorts of stuff.
The fact that an entertaining (albeit simplistic) story was including in Tornado Outbreak shows that this is more than just a quick Katamari knock-off. Although certain moments in Tornado Outbreak feel incredibly cheap, like the very first still menu, the animated cutscenes are actually quite easy on the eyes and tell a respectable story about the Wind Warrior's perilous mission. It's all family-friendly and somewhat predictable, but it's still a fine complement to the gameplay.
Of course, the gameplay is the real highlight of the Tornado Outbreak experience. Each level, besides the tutorial sections, is split up into three different zones. In each zone, you must start off as a very small, harmless tornado and work your way up into a city-smashing spiral by destroying various objects and growing as you suck up more junk. Things you can actually pick up and destroy will rattle as you approach them, which is a great visual cue while tearing through a stage.
As you progress through the game, more and more gameplay mechanics are introduced, which helps keep the experience fresh. For example, once you learn the basics of destroying buildings, Tornado Outbreak introduces Fire Flier catching. In order to advance to the next zone and extend your time limit, players must find Fire Fliers that are hidden in different objects and absorb them. Players have the option of chaining these catches together by holding down a button and collecting more Fire Fliers while a blue ring of light surrounds your tornado. To turn this into a challenge as opposed to a free chaining device, your tornado will start to slow down the longer you hold down the button, until eventually the Fire Fliers you currently have trapped will be absorbed all at once.
After this technique becomes second nature, the game opens up the Stone Stomp, which gives your tornado the ability to hop up and then stomp down on the ground to more quickly destroy nearby objects. More techniques are revealed after this, too, so there's much more to Tornado Outbreak than just fooling around with the analog stick.
At the end of the final zone for each level, Zephyr must participate in a Vortex Race, followed by a Totem Battle. A Vortex Race entails speeding around a pre-set course and flying through a series of gates. Totem Battles, on the other hand, serve as the game's "boss battles" and combine some careful environmental navigation with crazy intense button-mashing.
Another aspect of Tornado Outbreak I really enjoyed was the usage of light and darkness. As Wind Warriors are extremely weak against UV radiation, you have to stay in the cover of clouds in order to survive. Normally, this translates into keeping within certain boundaries during normal play, but it quickly becomes an important gameplay element during the Totem Battles. You'll have to hastily navigate shadowy patches of earth in order to avoid the sunlight, all while dodging giant balls of fire flying at your face. Just another Friday night here at IGN.
Despite feeling a bit low-budget and being a fairly short game, Tornado Outbreak is still surprisingly fun. The art style is cute, even though the visuals might not technically cut it, and the music is fantastic and themed appropriately for each location. Although you can beat Tornado Outbreak in less than five hours, there's plenty to do in previous stages after you earn all your powers, so there's some replay value to be found there.
©2009-10-05, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved