This was originally posted on the now-defunct Random Fury! videogame blog.
ilo and milo leave their houses every morning and meet up under the tree in the middle of the local park and eat maple leaf flavoured biscuits, then at night, they head back to their homes. Every day it becomes harder and harder to simply walk to the big tree in the park, because it seems as if someone re-arranges the park at night! It could just as easily be ilo and milo’s failing memories though… And this is roughly where you, the player, step in. Help reunite milo and ilo every day, find their precious mementos such as records and photographs, make new friends along the way, and restore fragments of their memories – maybe you can help them reunite for good?
I love having a great big dose of spacial awareness and I like to think I am adept at creative thinking, so this game was practically made for me. Dollop the delightfully quant art-style on top and I’m sold – Everything is plush, plump and home-made in this game, all the characters look as if they’d be great cushions, but delving into the making-of sketches that are unlocked later reveals a real macabre feeling which oddly enough sits quite nicely with the darkness of the later chapters – some of the blocks have very creepy smiles! The music deserves a mention as well, as it suits the overall tone of the rest of the game perfectly. Played with all the charm of a gifted but amateur brass band who only get to practise together once a month, the main theme sticks in your head long after you’ve walked away from your console. So much so, that the developers realised it is disgustingly catchy, and challenged you to earn an achievement by playing it with the main menu as your instrument.
Anyway, I’m taking far too long to get to the basics of the game, which should really be a priority. But here I am, gushing about comfy cushions and smiling blocks. So, to be reunited, they need to traverse levels made up of six-sided blocks, but their movement is restricted to the plane they are currently on. They can’t jump to lower blocks at all, and without the help of special tool-blocks can only move to a different plane by making use of special carpets. Here’s an advanced concept: Gravity in ilomilo isn’t an internally centralised, pulling force, it exists like the ozone layer, only with gravity instead of ozone, and feels like it pushes down on characters to keep them grounded. It doesn’t so much keep them rooted to the ground by pulling, but presses them against it with a gentle yet constant push, if you get me. Special tool-blocks are the best way to help the friends meet up, and not only using them with the character that collects them, but getting them from ilo to milo are often central to solving each level. These blocks range from stretchy, puppy-dog faced platforms to small, stoic, solitary blocks – from jolly and angelic looking elevator cubes to rusty, grimacing contraptions that burp when they rotate. Each one is so full of character – and for mostly inanimate objects, that’s no mean feat.
ilo and/or milo can only carry one such block at once (rather cutely, they shrink it down and wear it as a backpack), but you can get around this restriction pretty easily by putting one down and picking another up close to each other, or taking one special tool block at a time to it’s destination. At times you do feel like you are just ferrying these useful blocks from one axis of the map to the other via the longest, most convoluted route possible, but it’s in a good way. I don’t mind a bit of repetition as long as there is sufficient reward at the end of it – and seeing milo and ilo do their little dance when they reunite… It’s lovely. I didn’t feel like any of the puzzles massively repeated themselves, as there was at least one unique idea or new, interesting combination of elements in each level.
That none of these gameplay elements seem to have official names, or at least any names communicated through the game, means you are required to make up your own little names for them. The upside-downey block, for example, is called the upside-downey block because ilo or milo stand on it and a trap-door opens and they are suddenly on the opposite side of the block, upside-down to where they first started. The Trundler, the name I made up for what is essentially a ride-able moving platform, might be a dog, it might be a cat, it might be a moustached, jumper-wearing hippo. Whatever it is, I’m sure anyone who’s played this game gave these elements their own unique names, and the joy of it is naming them as you see fit. Then trying not to act like you’re totally crazy when trying to explain to someone that you’re attempting to “fudge the rotator past this sockeroony so it can 90 the blue one to the vinyl!”…
As if the game were not tricky enough already, it layers on some extra complexity in the form of bits and bobs for you to find in the levels. These totally optional collectables are Safkas, the mini-ilomilo dudes who unlock bonus levels, vinyl records that add tunes to the sound gallery, and photographs that document and visualise the making-of process. I welcomed these extra challenges because sometimes, just creating the path to getting ilo and milo together was half the battle – getting to that point, looking at which block types are available and working out just how you’ll get to that record sat on a far away pillar was great fun.
The final stretch of the game was the best bit for me – some of the very late levels were amazing. The one which essentially only gave you an elevator block, an upside-downer, as many single-blocks that you could possibly need and just said “Solve this. Off you go”, was incredibly brave. It was almost a puzzle you had to construct yourself before you could solve it. Another one split the pair up totally, and had each one completing tasks by themselves, and gave the impression that earlier on in the game would’ve needed both of them, but it felt like the game had improved your block manipulation skills so much that they could handle the puzzles alone by this stage. Another great level later on reminded you that for all their fancy skills, despite rotating and lifting and rolling and stretching, all the blocks can be used as simple stepping stones if needed.
This game is currently £3.39 on the Xbox Live Marketplace – If you enjoy three-dimensional puzzles then I suggest you do your creative side a favour and purchase it right now. You will not be disappointed. I think I’ll have to get blujams to play the co-op with me for an Achieve! video sometime soon, there’s a couple of cheeky ‘cheevos in there that only unlock with two players…
