Hue (PlayStation 4) Review

The fundamental gameplay revolves around collecting the colour fragments scattered throughout. This then allows for Hue to change the colour of the background to any of the colours that he has collected. The importance of doing this is that, along the way, there will be coloured obstacles that block the path ahead; however, changing the colour of the background to the same colour as that of the obstacle allows the hero to make his way past the blockage.

As more colour fragments are found, the stages get a lot more complex and the puzzle difficulty becomes harder. The greater variety of colour options allows for some cleverly crafted puzzles that definitely require some forward thinking in order to ensure the completion of them. While some of the puzzles centre around moving coloured blocks around the stage, in order to create a step up to a higher area, some deliver heart-pounding exhilaration. One level has boulders that threaten to fall and crush Hue should he make a colour change to the corresponding obstacle that is blocking the boulders. Another sees him needing to jump up a series of ramps, while facing the onslaught of coloured boulders rolling down them, thus requiring constant colour changes to avoid getting trampled. While there are not many of these fast, reactive-type areas, they do break up the pacing of the game, which otherwise features a more methodical approach to completing the puzzles.

Although the story is kept to a minimum with its bare-bones plot, envelopes will be discovered along the way that contain letters from Hue's mother. While their purpose is to create more of a back-story to the situation, as well as mystery as to her whereabouts, they only serve as motivation to keep pressing farther. Otherwise, the story is not what this is about, as the gameplay mechanics and clever level design takes centre stage. There are also 28 "vials" hidden throughout the adventure, and these require a little bit more thought in order to collect them all. Such a task greatly increases the longevity, and is something that can be performed after the completion of the main game.

As most of the stages feature an abundance of colour changes, some colours can be hard to distinguish in the heat of the moment. Sometimes, the greens and yellows can look the same and can occasionally be a thorn in the side of Hue. However, it seems the developer had thought of this issue, as well as being user-friendly for those suffering from colour-blindness. In the 'Options' menu is the ability to switch on the colour-blindness mode, which instead gives each colour a unique symbol to better distinguish them all.