2019-03-01_Official_PlayStation_Magazine_-_UK_Edition

091

REVIEW

an encyclopedia that enables
you to build on what you know
and organically explore, it
simply withdraws that rulebook
altogether and throws down
another. Assets jitter and jump
around the screen, characters
and props clip through the
world, often obscuring your
view, and sometimes peculiar
bugs impede progress entirely.

ALL IN VANE
That said, at its peak (which is
just the opening hour or so, I’m
afraid to say) Vane is sublime,
and it choreographs just
enough through its otherwise
taciturn techniques to keep you
progressing, usually heading
in the right direction. At its
worst, though, it’s glitchy and
unresponsive, with the third act
of its three-ish hour run-time
offering little to match the
appeal of its opening. You can’t
die – nosedive to the ground
and your bird will neatly land,
or fall off the edge of a cliff
and your boy will mysteriously

morph into a bird again –

but this lack of tangible

consequence doesn’t work in

the game’s favour, either. All it

does is layer frustration upon

frustration.

Sadly, this melancholic

experience is weakened by its

utter lack of polish and for all

its stylish concepts, constantly

fighting the mechanics

destroys the immersion. The

weightlessness you feel while

soaring through the sky is

further undone by forcing you

to trudge across Vane’s alien

rubble-strewn world on foot,

and while this may indeed

be a deliberate choice, it feels

altogether too sluggish, both

literally and metaphorically.

VERDICT

THE OPM BREAKDOWN

Right Vane’s
brooding
soundtrack
is one of its
greatest
strengths.

Below Switching
between
feather and feet
enables you to
progress.

Above left If you work out what that ending is about, let us know, okay?

The striking visual language of

Friend & Foe’s stunning world

is a painful glimpse of how

wonderful an experience Vane

could have been. Instead, it’s

clumsy, careless, and wholly

incoherent. Vikki Blake

23% Figuring

out where the

hell you’re

supposed to

be going next.

11% Trying to

work out WTF

happened in that

final scene.

10%Backtracking

to work out what

area you’ve missed.

14%Standing

still just to listen

to the soundtrack.

WHAT YOU DO IN... VANE

27%

Carefully trying

to land and still

somehow

messing it up.

15% Struggling

to get the

camera in the

right position.

STAT PACK

Bronze trophies

• just silver, gold,
  and a shiny new
  platinum trophy
  up for grabs
  here!

Weather sock

visits will help

you gather the

flock of crows

needed for a

secret trophy.

Hours is all

it takes to

complete. The

final third will

feel like much

longer, though.

4503

Main levels

(including the

prologue) will

take you to the

end of Vane’s

adventure.

COMPEL-O-GRAPH

Flying

lessons

Bird

becomes boy

Landing

woes

Long road

ahead

Wait.

What just

happened?

0 TIME 3 hours

FLIGHT TIMES

While the controls take a little

getting used to, once you master

manoeuvring the raven through the

sun-bleached skies, it’s glorious.

FOOT WORK

After a wonderful hour or so in the

sky, why are we glued to the ground

again? We want a bird-eye’s view of

all of this world, not just its opening.

LOVING/HATING

UR

NI

S

OF

AM

BIT

ION

TROPHY CABINET

SU

MM

ITF

AN

RT

AN

SF

OR

MA

TION

SILVER

Take this early

unlockable trophy as

proof you really are

making actual

progress. Honest.

SILVER

All that glitters might

be gold. It might also

have magical powers

that turn you into a kid

for some reason...

GOLD

Hit the peaks for this

• reach the top of the
  highest hill in the
  desert. (No, being a bird
  doesn’t count.)