The Flaws of Gravity

Coming up with a new idea is difficult enough, let alone implementing it and making sure the gameplay keeps the players engaged. However, sometimes it’s easy to get away with sketchy mechanics if the overall experience is worth the trouble. An intriguing atmosphere helps a lot as well, especially in the case of adventure games with a story to tell.

The Flaws of Gravity is a first-person adventure game in which you get to solve environmental puzzles and rotate the entire world in order to move around. There’s a bit of mythology in there as well, and the whole thing takes place in interesting places full of ancient sculptures and intriguing architecture. Unfortunately, you have to deal with many flaws as well, which kind of ruin the experience in the long run.

As the name implies, gravity can be changed whenever you need to reach otherwise inaccessible places. However, it’s pretty difficult to understand when and how to flip the gravity, since the only visual cue is your cursor turning green when you look at the right wall. There’s no tutorial and no guide to tell you this, so it might take a while to understand how everything works.

Another issue comes in the form of very short levels, since the whole game can be finished in a matter of minutes, especially since most of the puzzles can actually be avoided using the gravity gimmick. It’s worth mentioning that the loading screens are very long, and they can actually keep you waiting for minutes on end, which is not good news at all.

As far as the graphics are concerned, don’t expect anything too great, given the small levels and the lack of other characters. On the other hand, at least the level design is very intriguing, and the architecture is very neat. There are all sorts of statues and columns to admire, and the weird perspectives adds a lot to the atmosphere.

In the end, The Flaws of Gravity could have been a lot more engaging if there was a tutorial included, or if the puzzles were longer. This is still a free game development by students, however, so the low quality is to be expected.