Monday, August 8, 2011

Daily Flash: Soul Tax

An amazing blend of 8 bit graphics and quick puzzle solving with a unique twist, Soul Tax brings you in as a ghost who must gather enough souls to avoid damnation by killing everyone around. Your only weapon? The ability to possess anyone in the game with a pulse. The game may sound like a walk in the park, but clever mechanics and level design show that there's lots of depth to be found in this killing spree.

Presentation:
Oh do I love me some old school graphics. While a change in location would be nice, this is a game about haunting an office building so I can't complain. Everything from the sounds to the artwork hark back to the days when games were all about mechanics and gameplay.
4.5/5

Gameplay:
Snatching the body of anyone in the world makes for interesting puzzles. The first few levels are introductory, and while they have the difficulty of squishing a fly with a ghostly rocket launcher, there's fun in experimenting with the many different things you can do. The level design is excellent. There are several ways you can beat each level, and I'd argue that it takes too long for the game to throw you a puzzle that actually makes you think. There are a few reflex puzzles thrown in there for variety, and it's always a nice to have a change of pace.
4.2/5

Overall:
The fresh gameplay that stealing bodies provides is a breath of fresh air in a world of Super Mario clones. While the ideas were there, I felt like something was missing. Maybe it was a lack of challenge from the early levels, maybe it was a cry for more difficult puzzles in the later game. Some puzzles made it obvious that there was only one solution, and those were nowhere near as fun as the levels that just allow you to work your creativity. Definitely worth a try, Soul Tax gets my approval for originality.
4.3/5

Play Soul Tax Here!

1 comment:

  1. I am still in the middle of playing it, but I can already say this is an AWESOME little game...I, too, am in love with the simple yet fun looking 8-bit environment. And the dialogue is absolutely amazing!!! I love the part near the beginning where the guy is more bothered by not getting paid overtime for covering his dead co-worker's shift, than the actual death. I've seen a similar situation in real life, it's disgusting, so I found it interesting that they made a crack at that. I lol'd on some other parts of the dialogue. The controls are nice and smooth. Such a fun game overall!

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