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Despite my love of video games I’ve never been a big fan of the online element of gaming. In fact, having initially hooked my Xbox up to live, I’ve rarely used the service beyond downloading demos. To my sceptical eye, a lot of Live titles look like lazily rehashed oldies or mildly unoriginal ideas too limited to warrant a box and shelf space, and with the plethora of full releases vying for my playing time I’ve generally been tempted by the big budget games.

Predictably, given so pessimistic an introduction, Braid has been a bit of an eye opener.

The initial impression is of a 16-bit era 2D platform game, somewhere between Super Mario and Kid Chameleon. Spiked pits cause instant death, jumping on heads dispatches baddies, ladders and moving platforms provide vertical access. In place of coins/rings your aim is the collection of puzzle pieces which need to be arranged to complete each level, and on your journey it is necessary to defeat bosses. It might, in fact, be possible to play Braid for 5 minutes and dismiss it off-hand as a throwaway retro money spinner.

This would be a mistake.

You see, Braid isn’t really a platform game. By the time you’ve breezed through the first world (no doubt missing a number of puzzle pieces on the way), the key element-reversing time- begins to become more and more integral to your progress. From this point, the act of jumping and avoiding/knobbling baddies is secondary: manipulation of time and the world becomes your primary objective. Certain objects, highlighted by a green haze, are not affected by your time reversing powers, and with this seemingly modest set of tools the designer (a talented chap called Jonathan Blow) weaves a web of levels to challenge and enchant in equal measures.

It is very difficult to explain Braid in depth without giving away the tricks (which are best discovered through satisfying light bulb moments) or giving a garbled and disjointed account of the eclectic design. As soon as one dynamic ahs been mastered a new design trick is added (such as a level where walking right moves time forward and walking left moves time in reverse), meaning the game remains fresh and the flow of new ideas continues to demand attention. Despite appearances, there are times when Braid has more in common with Lemmings (or, more obscurely, Humans) than Mario, and the blending of ideas is almost always successful.

It is also necessary to pay homage to the art and music design. Braid’s world looks like a watercolour painting, with interactive elements blurred into the background to give depth, whilst the sparse sound effects are set over relaxing classical music. Given the progressive nature of the game (more chin scratching than pin-point reflexes) the overall effect is an understated triumph and infinitely preferable to the soft rock/techno that passes for background music in a lot of similar puzzlers.

Given the price of the full game and the quality on display it is hard to fault Braid, and the only factor which might act to dissuade less patient gamers is frustration at challenges that appear to be impossible; hardly a flaw given that this is the aim of the game. Loose this frustration and you also loose the triumphant feeling when you finally outwit the level and reach your goal, a feeling which increases as the challenge grows.

It isn’t often that an original idea appears in so complete and successful a form, and given the weight of sequels and rehashes available on Live and full release it is refreshing to play something so inventive and addictive. If you’re hooked up to live, and have any interest in an old fashioned platform/puzzle game with genuinely original ideas, then download the live demo and give it a go. Chances are the full download will quickly follow.

Score: 9/10

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