With no characters or story to speak of, the appeal is constructed from the “addictive” gameplay template. You’ll be controlling a small space ship in a static, roughly top-down camera perspective with the ability to jut left and right. The supersonic highways you’ll travel are twisty, wind-y, and very narrow. You don’t have much margin for error when it comes to staying completely on track. Luckily, a minute slip wont automatically cost you the run. If you happen to edge off just a bit, or completely for a fraction of a second, you can veer back onto the road and continue progressing. It’s a nice little break from the “runner” norm that makes Spectra much more playable than it would be without this mechanic.
Gateway Interactive is comprised of three folks: Louis Deane, Brecht Lecluyse, and Duncan Mulholland. Between the three of them, they seem to have good affluence for the basics of this type of experience. Each of the ten tracks are designed well within the same set of parameters, but have little quirks and pathway rivets that attempt to make them comparably unique. This creates the need to memorize the correct way to collect the point gifting orbs in the most effective manner possible to maximize your score. Certain track progress marks will award a particular star rating (out of three). Notching at least one is needed to unlock the next path. Of course, not all items along the way are meant to be of help. The one objecting object type in Spectra are these elongated, hexagonal blocks that are littered along the course layout. The more tracks you unlock, the more numerous these blocks will become in subsequent levels.
I fully understand the need to have creations to create anxiety and trepidation on the part of the player, that which once they overcome, creates a sense of accomplishment. Without a challenge, it wouldn’t be a game, after all. Having said that, the blocks feel like a nuisance instead of a welcome opponent way more often that not. Sometimes they’re strategically placed in effective ways, like in a “blind spot” atop the crest of a ramp. In this sense, it works. Yeah, the collision will reset your multiplier progress and may even knock you off course and end the run. After the quick reaction of anger, you go at it again, avoid that block, and continue down the path. Obstacle observed turns into obstacle conquered! Unfortunately, most of the block placement seems haphazardly random. The inconvenience doesn’t tease you to learn and improve as is does displace interest and enjoyable momentum. In later stages, the blocks appear in clusters. Often, they’re in columns of two and three, or a pair placed side-by-side. Depending on how these formations coincide along the path will determine just how frustrating it will be to extend your record for points and progress. The worst offense is when blocks are placed three across, effectively shutting off the entire highway. This is the only part of the game that doesn’t feel like confident design. The blocks seem to be randomly scattered about with no real observance of formidable, but appropriate difficulty. Spectra also has a “hardcore” difficulty setting selectable once all of the tracks are unlocked. It plays the same, just with a higher volume of blocks and maybe a skosh more speed. Unless you’re a glutton for pain, you’ll want to steer clear.
Also, tilting the ship in the needed direction doesn’t feel as responsive as it should using either the thumbstick or the D-pad. For most games, a keyboard and mouse are going to offer more articulation than a console pad, so maybe that’s what accounts for the lack of haptic tact on the One. Despite these complaints, the biggest problem with Spectra is its linearity. When I saw a vid preview for the game, a lot of the clip featured sections of track with two and three paths intertwined. While playing, these are created by ramps, dips, and drops. To “transfer” from one to another, the ship should be flown in that direction, go off course, pick up air, then hover onto the next path. Level 5 entitled Aurora Borealis shows this off the best from what I play tested. Building speed up a ramp, then zooming across the screen to continue a points streak on a completely different piece of road is when things are at their best. Those moments are criminally few and far between. Or don’t happen as often as they should, at the very least.
The presentation works to define the Spectra experience just as much as gameplay. The graphical quality feels like a really high res rendition of an enhanced 8 bit package. That’s a really rudimentary and vague description, but I’m struggling to come up with the exact elements. There are plenty of neon accents and frames with hyper shades of yellow, orange, and purple. The backdrop, while aesthetically pleasant, is mostly static, apart from the particles of celestial material that whiz by as you race past. The visual package is effective and interesting, at first. Then you notice that the color schemes and patterns never change, and are the same from level to level. If each stage could have had its own slight variations on the basic design, it would have went a long way to improve Spectra’s overall appeal. The sound design is heavily dependent upon the pulsating soundtrack prevalently pedestalled in the proceedings. Trance inspired EDM is provided by Ms. Niamh Houtston, also known as Chipzel. She previously produced the music for another title, SUPER HEXAGON. That pedigree is not lost on this project. It’s effective for the vibe and tone that clearly wants to be set. Each stage has its own high tempo/high BPM, pulsating arrangement with ornamental Deadmau5-esque “bleep bloops.” While the music is really good, be forewarned, if you don’t like trance, house, or EDM in general, the music will quickly get monotonous.
