Typoman (Wii U) Review

Being freed from the reins of controlling publishers does not always result in innovation pouring forth. There are times where it simply leads to the misguided ventures of seemingly bedroom coders eager to cash in on uninformed punters. On the flipside, smart minds of developers can be restricted too much by budgets and market research shenanigans, so having the chance to let loose can be wondrous, Typoman being one specific example.

Brainseed Factory is behind the wheel of this dark and oft-disturbing romp that seems to focus on a struggle between good and evil throughout, complete with dark and dingy locales that are reminiscent of "the end is nigh" imagery, and a soundtrack from Dutch outfit, SonicPicnic, that will haunt gamers for a long time post-credits. Everything is lined up from the start as looking like a classy piece of atmospheric entertainment. Looks can sometimes be deceiving…but, thankfully, not here. Typoman excels in all areas.

The world surrounding Typoman is, more often than not, made up of various letters, sometimes forming actual words ('RAIN' for a dark cloud in the sky, unleashing its load; 'GRAB' for vines dangling down that must be clutched and swung from; and so on), whilst at others merely using their form to create parts of the scenery (numerous 'H' letters stacked, one atop the other, to form a ladder, for instance). Typoman has the ability to pick up and throw many letters around, as well as use a Scrambler on the GamePad to type words when a bunch are close together and too jumbled up to extract each letter individually. Why is this beneficial, though? Well, this is the key puzzle element of the adventure. Changing 'NO' to 'ON' to power up areas is one such example, as is dragging away the 'OOD' from 'GOOD' found earlier in a stage and then rearranging before pushing the final result up to a letter 'R' wedged in a wall to form a 'DOOR' to open a pathway, or even launching a 'P' over to the end of 'GAS,' thus allowing for a much needed breath of fresh air in poisonous regions.

There are so many intelligent word manipulation challenges at play, some of which are not against the clock, but others that must be conjured up when under acute duress - trying to form the word 'CLOSE' to bridge a gap, all the while having an evil being in hot pursuit, or finding the correct word to stop walls closing in on the lead character, squeezing the life out of him.

On top of the wonderful wordplay, there are the equally fantastic platform elements, with pinpoint accurate jumps and quick reflexes the order of the day - deaths are never the game's fault, simply that of those in control! Flawed only by the odd occasion where a word required for progress may not be entirely obvious (queue the hint system, which basically gives the answer away immediately), and the three-chapter length (although given how tough it can be, a good four or five hours can be squeezed out of this), Typoman is a breath of fresh air, with intelligently-crafted brainteasers and tight platform-esque controls, making for a deliciously unique take on the genre.