Ayla Demo

New ideas always have the potential to attract a bit of attention to the product they are integrated into, because people have a certain weakness toward ‘new’. However, it is not always enough for something to be original in order for the public to praise it, because bad ideas are an equal byproduct of the universe and they are bound to happen at regular intervals.

Ayla tries to be unique and futuristic, and it sort of is in a way, but it’s not exactly the perfect example of originality. The gimmick the entire gameplay happens to be based is the fact that the main character has the ability to invert the force of gravity at will, which allows you to cleverly avoid obstacles. However, the game itself plays and feels a lot like Valve’s Portal, except for the fact that it’s in 2D.

The similarities do not concern the story, however, which is not very exciting either. As such, you play the role of Ayla, a girl who must defend the planet from the aliens by retrieving a powerful artifact hidden somewhere underground. This artifact has the power to control gravity, which is kind of ironic, considering the fact that you have the same power while you are on your way to retrieve this ‘powerful’ artifact.

Along the way, many types of challenges await you, but you can tackle them using a variety of gadgets and tricks. As such, besides being able to invert gravity, you can also drag objects around and even put them in some kind of stasis. By doing this, you gain the ability to flip the gravity switch only for the desired objects, so you can easily move items around in order to place them into the desired spot.

As mentioned earlier, the puzzles are a lot like in Portal, given the fact that you must either use boxes to press buttons and hold the doors open, or use your powers to put power cells back into place and activate the door to the next level. However, that doesn’t mean the game is not fun or clever; it’s just that it may be difficult to get excited about it when you’ve already played and solved some of the puzzles.

When it’s all said and done, Ayla may have borrowed one too many ideas from other games, but you can still have some fun with it. The 2.5D graphics make for some very interesting special effects, which look even more striking when you consider the nice level design.