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Blinx the Time Sweeper Preview

Artoon gets catty with the Xbox.

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The Xbox has, to date, been a bit thin in the "cute platformer" department. Munch's Oddysee and a port of Crash Bandicoot have done a fair job of offering Xbox owners something cute to chew on, but things have been a bit barren overall. While both games have solid gameplay, only Crash possesses the slick mix of cute and cool that is befitting of a mascot. Abe and Munch have their own appeal to be sure, but the duo's voodoo chic is, more than likely, a bit much for the masses. Fortunately the Japanese developer of Pinobee fame is cooking up a showcase for a lively cat that seems tailor-made for the bright lights of mascot fame, Blinx: The Time Sweeper. We spent some time with a previewable build of the game and have come away pleased at how the plucky cat's exploits are shaping up.

Here is our furry hero.
Here is our furry hero.

You'll take the role of Blinx, a cat whose career path has led him to the time-sweeping occupation of the game's title. The game's intro fills you in on the specifics of the career with an opening cinema that's one part Orwellian future and one part Meow Mix commercial. It seems that at some point in the future, a race of bipedal pastel-colored cats will be entrusted with making time and ensuring that it runs smoothly. As fate would have it, a massive disruption in the time stream occurs when planet B1Q64 is invaded by the Tom Tom gang, which results in some freaked-out cats and their decision to quarantine the planet. (We'd like to believe that if dogs had been in charge they probably wouldn't have been so quick to give up.) It is during the ensuing chaos that our boy Blinx decides he has more stones than his coworkers and jumps into the portal leading from headquarters to planet B1Q64 just before it closes with the intention of saving the planet and its hot princess. Blinx's mission is complicated by a rapidly growing time monster population, which makes venturing through the planet hazardous at best. Apparently the Tom Tom gang's booty of pilfered time crystals have passed their "sell by" date and are turning into monsters. As the population grows, the monstrous residents draw dangerous amounts of energy from the environment. The power leeching will result in the mother of all explosions, destroying the planet and its comely princess.

While Blinx: The Time Sweeper's gameplay can be generally categorized as a platformer, the game stands as one of the most unique entries in the genre to hit consoles in quite some time. The game's structure will require you to explore themed stages broken up into four levels of exploration and a boss level you'll have to clear to gain access to the next stage. The exploration levels will require you to dispose of a set number of time monsters and make it to the exit before time runs out. Each exploration level will have a few secrets to uncover as well. At the end of each stage you'll be graded on your performance and awarded cash. The cash you earn can be spent in a shop that will let you purchase useful items. You'll be able to buy a wide range of stuff such as upgrades and ammo for your sweeper, or you can use the cash to increase the number of retries or time powers you can hold at one time and the number of items your sweeper can hold, which is invaluable when dueling bosses and time monsters. The boss levels will throw you into an enclosed area with a surly boss character and a smattering of items you'll have to creatively use to send the boss speeding toward the afterlife. You'll also be able to revisit previously cleared levels to use your newly purchased items to open up previously inaccessible areas.

A crazy time monster takes it in the head.
A crazy time monster takes it in the head.

Now the game may sound pretty typical for a platformer, but Blinx's game mechanics make it a unique experience. You'll move him with the left analog stick and jump with the A button--tapping the A button twice during a leap rewards you with a double-jump. The B button will control Blinx's sweeper, a vacuumlike device that's integral to your survival. Holding B down will trigger the sweeper's suction and draw in nearby time crystals or objects that you'll be able to store. Tapping B will fire your stored items at an enemy. While you won't be able to fire the time crystals at enemies, collecting them is just as useful as getting objects to use as ammo. By collecting the right combination of crystals, at least three of the same type, you'll gain the ability to affect time in one of five ways. By pressing the X button you'll call up a menu that will let you rewind, fast-forward, record, pause, and slow time in the game for a brief period. The effects of rewind, fast-forward, pause, and slow should be pretty self-explanatory to anyone who has ever used a VCR remote. The record function also works as you'd expect, although it's likely the most useful of all the abilities. You'll be able to make a copy of yourself that will repeat the actions you perform during the taping. As a result you'll be able to double your firepower, be in two places at once, or gang up on a particularly tough boss.

Blinx's time-control abilities appear to be nothing more than a gimmick during the early levels. Outside of using the rewind ability to rebuild a collapsed bridge and structure, you don't have to use them much. However, you would do well to familiarize yourself with controlling time, as you'll soon encounter a variety of challenges that will require every one of Blinx's skills to make it through. Rewind will get you through watery areas whose current prevents you from moving forward. Fast-forward will help shift moving obstacles out of your way. Record will let you trigger multiple switches at the same time to open doors. Pause will let your freeze time and get in some extra hits on a boss. Finally, slow will let you make it through areas laden with moving obstacles that threaten your life. You'll also need to use almost every ability at one time or another to uncover the various secrets in a level.

Blinx works that time mojo.
Blinx works that time mojo.

Graphically Blinx is a sharp-looking game that makes good use of the Xbox hardware. You'll probably be a bit underwhelmed at first, as the first few levels are nicely detailed but rather drab in appearance. To be fair, we can't imagine how you could tart up what appears to be a quaint "old world" European village beyond what's been done in the game. The environment is detailed and features a few doses of eye candy here and there, such as reflective chrome on doors and lighting and particle effects. However, things perk up considerably once you get further into the game. Level design gets decidedly funkier, as do the game's graphics, which results in some psychedelic environments that go wild with light sourcing and Escher-esque layouts. Through it all Blinx looks like every bit the feline stud, with a detailed character model that animates well and features small showy touches, such as fur shading and goggles that reflect the environment in real time. His look is helped--or hindered, depending on your tastes--by his animated face that usually sports a maniacal grin. The various effects related to Blinx's time manipulations are suitably cool and pull a host of tricks out of the Xbox. In terms of graphics you'll see nice pixel shading that colors the environment the same shade as the corresponding time power while leaving Blinx his normal hue. The technology behind the effect is pretty sweet: Chunks of your game are stored on the Xbox hard drive, which lets the time manipulations replay your game during the rewind effect in Tivo fashion.

Blinx's wussy coworkers freak out.
Blinx's wussy coworkers freak out.

From what we've played so far, Blinx is coming along fine. We have some issues with the camera, which adds an unwanted level of difficulty to the proceedings, but the game is still fun. In some ways its timed gameplay and secrets remind us of the early Sonic games, which may have something to do with Artoon's staff being made up of former Sonic Team members. The time powers are a very cool addition to the traditional platforming formula, and they require you to think in order to use them effectively. We're eager to see how the final game comes together. Blinx: The Time Sweeper is slated to ship this fall for the Xbox.

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