Expand (PC) Review

Expand started off kind of weird. It appeared to already have a save file, despite no time spent playing it. The menu introduces the mechanics, where the appropriate box must be moved into in order to select what to do. This mechanic, introduced as soon as the game begins, is the focal point of the gameplay. Everything is relative to the centre of the screen. A small circle indicates where the gravitational (if it could be called that) axis lies.

Actually, to jump back, this isn't the first thing Expand states. A warning appears on the screen stating that it is best enjoyed with a controller and headphones. This is undoubtedly true, as the bizarre movement the game employs would probably become much easier if a controller were used. For lack of a better phrase, this is a huge let down.

PC games are just that, PC titles. They are meant to be played using a keyboard and a mouse, first and foremost. Controllers are a welcome addition, but they shouldn't be required to play PC games, and Expand definitely needs one. Controlling the small pink square is very cumbersome with the keyboard alone. Since the centre of the screen acts almost like the ground, this means up is not always up, and down is not always down, and, often, left and right is confusing. It's a tad annoying to have to look down at the keyboard and plan movement in a game that often requires quick reflexes.

This could all be alleviated by touching the centre circle, which allows the player to use it like a springboard and realign gravity. Unfortunately, the centre circle isn't always accessible, meaning, a lot of the time, the bizarre controls just have to be dealt with. This leads to many deaths, which leads to a genuinely brilliant mechanic.

Upon death, the level is realigned, making the checkpoint the starting point. However, the rest of the level moves with it, meaning the checkpoint isn't even a checkpoint at all. It's just a new place to start, meaning that, while the mechanic is brilliant, it falls flat when executed.

Levels are also somewhat poorly mapped, and either deceives the player into making a dreadful mistake, or they're disproportionality easy. Too often in more artistic games, the levels feel more like bizarre extensions of the art. They look and feel like a giant "Look how clever I am!" and Expand has these levels in droves. When difficulty is brought up, it's almost too simple looking, leaving uninspired levels that are hard and uncreative. If only that sense of being clever and challenging could find a good middle ground, perhaps the level design could be forgiven.

The music is effective at first, but too often comes off as boring. Listening to the same melancholy drone on over and over is mostly forgivable as it drowns into the background, but it's largely just boring. It does change up from time to time, but even these changes feel hollow.

For all its flaws, Expand is largely tolerable. It's not ground-breaking, and often makes weird design decisions that border on the absurd (where does a pink cube find its place in a black, white and red world?). While everything tends to just be confusing or irritating, it is a cohesive hole that can be enjoyed in small doses. It never wows, and too often leaves a feeling of frustration than intrigue. It's not bad; it's just not great. Nothing really feels like it should be written home about. Expand is worth giving a try, but hopes shouldn't be too high.