inMomentum Review
Speed running is one of the oldest community driven practices in gaming. It requires a high level of skill and hours upon hours of practising. It could even be considered an art form in itself, and it is exactly this premise that inMomentum is fuelled by. Since competing in community made speedrun levels of Quake, gamers have been waiting for another chance to show off their skills in a finely tuned realisation of the sport, and inMomentum might just be the game they have been waiting for.
One thing has to be made clear from the very start when discussing inMomentum, the game is not for everyone. With such a variety of gamer types nowadays, ranging from the core to the casual, we have to be aware that if a game is said to be good, that this does not mean absolutely everyone will accept this judgement. We are just fine with that though – we are largely interested in the niche market as it is with a focus on indie games anyway. For profit-driven reasons though, the general trend with ‘mainstream’ developers these days is to attempt to grab the mass audience by making a game that will appeal to everyone. Digital Arrow Studios are going old school though, and have made a game that will grab the cheeks of any core gamer and force a gleaming smile due to its fast and addictive gameplay derived from the very first days of the first person shooter. There is a big difference from the customised adoption of the Quake community’s efforts though, inMomentum is finely tuned with a secure set of physics and a refreshingly minimalistic presentation that should incite a drooling interest from any speed running connoisseur.
For the uninitiated, speed running was popularised by the Quake community in the early nineties. By exploiting the game’s physics, players could hop and jump in ways that forced their character to travel at very fast speeds across the levels. A dedicated community grew from this and they started to make custom levels to speed run and compete in for better times around the courses. Similarly, inMomentum is strictly level based. There is no accompanying story, characterisation or any other distraction; it’s just you, a speed running course and a leaderboard. There is, however, a tutorial that introduces the most basic concepts of the game. Apart from the obvious stuff, the most vital technique to pick up on is the wall jumping mechanics. Essentially, by wall jumping the player is able to double jump and climb to some impressive heights. There is a catch though. The player is allowed to only jump off the same wall twice without jumping off another wall in between. If the player only jumps off a wall once, they can also jump again in mid-air. If this sounds confusing, it’s because it is and the tutorial does not do a good job of making it clear either. In practice though it makes perfect sense. This is helped by the two dots in your cross hairs that represent how many wall jumps or mid-air jumps you have done. The tutorial also introduces the necessity to shoot multi-coloured boxes as they unlock passages that are blocked by solid walls around the tracks – so being an accurate shot is very handy.
Once players have learned the ropes, they are essentially chucked into the game without much of a clue of what to do. They will be presented with the very decent range of levels to choose from, all of which are available from the start. While this may seem a very good thing, having such choice from the start, it is hard to not think that having something to work towards such as unlocking these levels would have definitely given new players something more to grasp on to. Instead, inMomentum seems both very daunting and lacks the gel to keep those players who are not outwardly competing in the game’s leaderboards hooked. Needless to say, a new player may need to invest a lot of time in inMomentum before they grasp what the game is all about, as well as the advanced techniques that are very much needed to play the game as intended. Of course, the problem here is that Digital Arrows have made a game for people who know what speed running is and have been doing it for years. While this may be fine in principal as it ensures the community is close-knit and on the same level as each other, it does cause a problem when half of the game relies on multiplayer to operate. It’s no surprise to find that when you search for a lobby, there are none available. It’s easy to see where the mistakes were made. Due to not explaining itself to its players, inMomentum has lost a potentially huge community who were probably more than willing to play in competitive speed running matches, but were not even made aware of how to get up to a decent speed in the first place.
Leaving that major problem behind for a moment, inMomentum is absolutely fantastic when you know what you are doing. Hopping along the levels, barely missing fatal drops by inches and travelling at excessive speeds is an enormous thrill. The stylised minimalist sheen of the game beautifully complements the gameplay, being as it is easy to quickly figure out your route during the high speeds whereas a more cluttered art style would only make it a frustrating experience. The soundtrack is easily on par with the gorgeous sunshine visuals by making each level a delight to replay over and over again, as is the requirements. The faster paced drums also match your dotty bounces and train your brain through auditory pace matching to keep a tight rhythm of jumps and wall bounces towards the final goal of the level. There are actually two modes of play available as well in inMomentum. Time trial is obviously the go-to choice, but Sphere Hunt can be even more challenging as you have to collect several spheres along the course that often distract from maintaining the highest speed possible. It’s definitely a very challenging game for those who want it. The three difficulties provide even further bragging rights for those who master them. These difficulty levels actually affect the physics of the game; making it harder to maintain air and momentum, as well as restricting other kinetic exploits available in the easier levels. Once you have mastered the tricks of the trade though, these minor adjustments to the physics will not be particularly noticeable as you find your preferred routes and replay them until perfected in order to climb the online leaderboards.
As mentioned earlier, inMomentum features a multiplayer mode. In fact, this is what inMomentum is all about – pitting players against each other to whizz around a track while nudging each other off course. “Adrenaline filled” doesn’t do it justice. There are several power ups along the many courses for players to fight for, all of which have entirely different effects; some desirable, others not. Of course, while the multiplayer is all good fun, it’s barely worth mentioning as no one is online so the chances of you being able to play it are very slim. It’s a real shame as well, as inMomentum is really good fun as a multiplayer game. Instead, players have to settle on the single player experience, which while good, only really acts as a training ground for the multiplayer – luckily the leaderboards ensure there is some longevity here.
inMomentum is a very good game. It’s finely balanced physics, outstanding presentation and addictive replay-inducing formula is a refreshing take on an age-old gaming tradition. In its niche, it is the best of its kind, that’s for certain. The main problem lies in the game’s stubbornness to allow new players in. It does not make it clear enough what techniques a player should use to increase their times, combine this with no unlockables or rewards to chase and it’s no wonder that no one is playing the game’s multiplayer. The tutorial really needs to be expanded upon if the player base is to increase and the multiplayer actually have some worth. As it is, inMomentum is clearly a very well made game, but lacks the gel to keep players playing and, considering most of the game is multiplayer focused, the developers have not made it user-friendly enough to incite a community to grow and play with each other. It’s a real shame in that regards. Perhaps appealing to the mass market is not such a bad thing after all…
More information on inMomentum can be found at its official website. inMomentum can be purchased on Steam.
Review summary Pros:
Addictive and glorious skill-based gameplay. Gorgeous presentation.
Cons:
Not very welcoming to new players and therefore goes against its own multiplayer efforts
Rating: 72%
