140 | Review

Developer: Jeppe Carlsen

Publisher: Jeppe Carlsen & Double Fine Productions (Console Versions)

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One & Wii U

Released: October 16^th 2013

140 is a minimalist 2D platformer created by Jeppe Carlsen who is most well known for being the lead gameplay and level designer of INSIDE (which you can click HERE to read my review of) and LIMBO which are two of my favourite games of all time. But whereas INSIDE and LIMBO both have dark themes and visual styles and focus on telling a story through symbolism and metaphors, 140 is about as simple as you could make a platformer.

140 is almost the anti-LIMBO and INSIDE, it couldn't be more colourful, it has an upbeat electronic soundtrack and it has very little in the way of story. But what it shares with the aforementioned games is how fantastically the levels are designed. At it's core 140 is about as simple as a 2D platformer can get, you move with the left analogue stick and jump with the A button (I'm playing with an Xbox 360 controller) and that's it. You would think this would mean the game is too simple right? Well no, 140 is quite a challenge to complete and despite its simple graphical style, it's more complicated than it first appears to be.
The reason I'm choosing to review 140 now is for several reasons, the first of which is that it was recently released on consoles (it was released on September 1^st 2016 on PS4) making it more relevant to talk about because it's now available to a wider audience, secondly, INSIDE has recently been released on PS4 and as previously mentioned, 140 is made by Jeppe Carlsen who was the gameplay director on that and lastly, Jeppe Carlsen's new game THOTH will be available on PC at some point next month. So there's no better time to talk about 140 than now.

As far as story goes 140 doesn't have one. Normally when I review platformers I say that there isn't much in the way of story or that the story is minimal but 140 literally doesn't have a story. You play as a square that turns into a circle as it moves and a triangle as it jumps and that's all the character development you're getting.

It would be easy to say that it's lazy to not incorporate any story into a game but with something like this, it isn't necessary to have a story. It really comes down to one thing, does having a story make the game better? In this case I would argue that no, it doesn't, but the reason it can get away with having no story is because it excels in every other area.

The levels start off very simply, teaching you the basic mechanics of the game and giving you a feel for the physics.

The most obvious thing 140 gets right is the gameplay. As I've mentioned, it's a 2D platformer, so all of the obvious tropes of this genre are here, you jump across gaps, you go through tricky timed sequences and you do a bit of puzzle solving and exploration to progress. But where 140 starts to become something special is in how all of the game's environments change to the beat of the background music. This creates situations where you're able to predict platforms appearing or obstacles moving without ever having seen how they move beforehand. It all feels natural because of how the levels interact with the constantly layering music and this makes the gameplay flow extremely well.

The game begins with a small area in which you collect a coloured orb and get transported to a new place after taking it to it's plinth in the middle of the area. This area is basically the level select screen where you'll be transported back at the end of each level. From here you can choose to play one of the three levels in the game again (assuming you have already unlocked them by playing through the game once) and you can go all the way to the right of the area to access hardcore versions of the levels (in which there are no checkpoints so dying will result in you having to do the entire level again).

The level select area is distinct from every other section because it's dark and has no music. From here you can collect one of these three orbs and enter one of the three levels which correspond to the orbs.

The actual levels start in an eerie silence but after a very short while you'll come across another small coloured orb like the one seen in the level select area. Upon collecting the orb and taking it to a plinth, the world will suddenly change colour, music will suddenly start playing and the level around you will start moving and transforming.

Upon collecting more orbs the music gets more and more progressive, adding more and more instrumentation which layers on top of each other, the levels become more kinetic with obstacles and platforms starting to appear and move and as the levels go on, the music and environments create a lot of tension as they build up to the more difficult platforming sections. The music eventually reaches a crescendo and as you finish the level you enter the next phase.

After the climax of the level a boss battle will initiate and this is another aspect I feel that 140 shines in. Its boss battles are some of the most challenging, memorable and fun I've ever faced in any game. While the first boss battle is fairly simple and it maintains the basic control scheme of the normal levels, the second and third boss battles turn the game on it's head, changing it from a platformer to a top down obstacle course and a kind of puzzle game which will test your concentration and reflexes to the max. For a game that's only approximately 40 minutes long (I've played through it a few times and can complete the entire game in less than 25 minutes) it has a fantastic amount of variety.

After a while, the levels will begin to come alive with the music, platforms that were previously still will start moving and new paths will open.

The first boss is a giant ball which simply hangs in the air. As music starts playing you realise a laser beam starts shooting from a floating triangle object that's now following you around. Using this beam, you're able to shoot the enemy ball but upon doing so, it rips into two pieces and starts raining smaller balls at you. You now need to avoid it's projectiles while timing the laser beams which shoot to the beat of the music and keep ripping the balls apart (which then produces more projectiles, turning the boss into a bullet hell situation), upon finally destroying the last segment of the ball, the level ends throwing you back into the level select area where a new orb has appeared, gaining you access to the next level.

The second boss changes the game completely, you can no longer jump but you're still able to move left and right. It feels like a top down shooter more than a 2D platformer but without the function to shoot. After quickly getting to grips with these modified controls some squares appear at the top of the screen before turning into downwards facing triangles and zooming towards you. If you survive this, more squares appear and you'll notice they're moving to the beat of the music. Upon dodging them a few more times they begin to attack from different positions, they also attack at differing times depending on the direction they attack from, which requires you to multitask and anticipate which obstacle will move first. After a while the boss then enters it's next stage where there is one square that keeps moving up and down to the beat of the music. Walls then start appearing which restrict the amount you can move and this really begins to test your judgment of timing while avoiding the square. The barriers on the side of the level eventually start to move inward, making the screen thinner and thinner until you fly out of a hole and find yourself back in the level select area where you have unlocked the next level.

This is the first boss who you need to shoot with the aid of a little triangle which you collect. It becomes quite hectic and you'll need to have mastered the basics to beat it.

But the best and easily most challenging boss is saved for last. Upon getting through the third and final level of the game you enter an area where you no longer control the square that you've been playing as for the whole game but rather, you control an arrow which can point in one of four directions. The arrow will shoot a beam to the beat of the music and you'll need to shoot a triangle that points at you and moves in the direction it's pointing. After doing this a few times, rather than your beam just shooting in the direction it's pointing, it will being twisting in a clockwise direction before shooting meaning that if you want to shoot up you will need to aim to the left and allow yourself to be twisted clockwise so you're facing up. There will also be times when you'll be twisted two times, meaning you'll need to aim down if you want to shoot up. If this sounds complicated it's because it is, but because of the forgiving checkpoint system it isn't a frustrating. In the final section of the boss you'll not only be twisted but the actual level will begin twisting too which is easily the most tense and difficult section of the whole game. Simply explaining this boss doesn't do it justice, so for the full experience you'll need to play it for yourself, but I personally really enjoyed the boss sections for their uniqueness and the variety they add to the game.

This is the second boss who squashes the screen which both restricts your movement and looks reminiscent of a 4:3 TV, bringing back memories of old school top down shooters.

The levels themselves are great too and each one has it's own platforming obstacle that it sticks to throughout. The first level is mostly about your basic platforming skills, testing your ability to perform accurate jumps on moving and disappearing platforms which become smaller and more difficult to land on as the level progresses. It also introduces you to the fact that television static is bad and will kill you. All of the bosses are made of this static and different traps throughout the game are also made of it. While it is a basic level it gives you a feel for the game and teaches you everything you need to know while also having some interesting traps and platforming based puzzles to keep you on your toes.

The second level is where things get slightly more complicated, it introduces more interesting moving platforms which change places after stepping on them forcing you to create a bridge across gaps by stepping on and off platforms in a specific pattern. It also features platforms which build complex bridges to the beat of the music which disappear after a few seconds. But the main thing the second level tests is your timing and patience as you come up against walls made of static which turn on and off in alternating patterns forcing you to move slowly or risk being touched by them.

As the level goes on it will start layering obstacles on top of each other which reflects the way the music keeps adding new layers, becoming more complete as you progress.

This level is also clearly inspired by the gravity puzzles towards the end of LIMBO. Throughout the level there will be areas where you will begin temporarily floating towards the ceiling and you'll need to use this ability to get to higher platforms and avoid obstacles while doing so. The last part of this level (just before the boss) is basically exactly the same as the very last part of LIMBO where you smash through some glass after a gravity puzzle.

The third level is by far the most difficult to complete (which makes sense considering it's the last one) because it tests everything you've learned up until this point and makes the level design and timing much more difficult. It features the same obstacles seen in the last two levels but uses them in different ways which creates more complicated puzzles, but it also has much more emphasis on moving quickly but accurately at the same time.

The third level ends with the last boss of the game, which is extremely fun and tests your reflexes and concentration.

A new obstacle to this level is platforms which start off big but then get smaller to the beat of the music. The catch is that while the squares are in the process of changing size they also turn into static which means you have to time a jump at just the right time to avoid being hit by the platform you're standing on. There are also platforms which bounce you up like a spring which make a return from the first level, but this time after they've bounced you up they turn into static which means you have to make sure to not fall onto them at the incorrect time.

After completing the game you may be asking yourself “is that it?” and while the main part of the game is short and relativity easy there is more content to be played. After finishing the game you unlock a hardcore version of all three of the levels which makes it so you need to do the whole level and boss section without dying a single time (basically it just gets rid of all of the checkpoints). This is where the main challenge of 140 is because the final level of the game can be very tricky to complete on its own, but then it throws a curveball at you as the boss now spins you counter clockwise instead of the original version of the boss which spins you clockwise. For some reason this makes it so much harder to beat. It's a lot more difficult to wrap your head around whats happening on screen in the last section of the boss especially, because the level spins clockwise while you spin counter clockwise and it becomes harder to think ahead and move to the right position in the space of time it gives you. It's a very fun (and difficult) challenge and it's only included as an extra for people who have played the normal game a lot.

The only negative thing I have to say is that the game is extraordinarily short, and while this is great because nothing is put in the game as filler content, it does seem like it's over before it's really begun. Extra modes such as a time attack mode, small puzzle levels or a multiplayer mode would have been fantastic. However, I feel like I've got more than my money's worth just by playing what content is available multiple times through. Because it's not very long, it's a good game to play when you don't have a lot of time or want something that isn't too taxing to throw yourself into.

The last level keeps things fresh by introducing new obstacles that interact differently with the music to anything you've seen so far. 

140's graphics are minimal, consisting of just basic shapes and solid colours, but despite this it also never looks boring. The backgrounds are constantly moving (they look like an audio waveform which moves to the music) and there's always something happening on screen in the foreground. The colour pallet changes every time you bring an orb to a plinth and this also stops the game looking too visually repetitive.

The visual style represents the type of game we're playing which ties everything together nicely. At it's core it's a very minimal game, there's no tutorials, no story, very basic controls, no HUD, etc. So it obviously wasn't created as a visually minimal game for no reason. It fits the overall style perfectly.

I very much like the way that after taking an orb to a plinth, a multicoloured ball surrounds you and lifts you into the air before the music changes. The music gets quieter as you rise and then kicks in with it's new layers as the world changes colour. It never stops feeling satisfying

The controls have no delay and everything feels responsive and smooth which is something that's a must for platformers because they require a lot of control for the precise jumps and timing sections. While the controls do change during some of the boss sections, it never feels disjointed or jarring because the controls feel natural to what's happening on screen. There are also always small practice areas just before the bosses which allow you to get a feel for the new controls.

Keeping with the theme of simplicity, there isn't even a pause function, if you hold the Start button the game will simply fade to black and quit which I think is great. There's never a need to pause the game because it's so short and even if you do need to leave the game for a minute you can do so without pausing and nothing will have changed when you get back. The inclusion of a pause menu wouldn't have offended me, I just think that it's an interesting artistic choice not to have one and it fits with the minimal gameplay and aesthetic the game has.

An example of how the environments move with the music is in these trampoline-like floors which will boost you into the air in time with the music.

You would expect the music to reflect the overall minimal nature of the game but this is where the game's identity and style is prevalent and what sets it apart from all the other minimal platformers out there. The music isn't minimal at all but rather it is quite complicated having several different layers which all build up throughout the levels and having most of the different beats and sounds relate to the movement of the game's environments.

The music itself is very upbeat which perfectly reflects the colourful levels you're making your way through and the electronic dubstep-like vibes give the game a lot of character and sets it apart from pretty much anything else. Not to mention the tracks are all very catchy and the boss music in-particular is amazing and makes each of the bosses even more memorable and tense than they already are.

There isn't much in the way of sound design other than the fantastic music. There's a subtle jump noise that gives some feedback to your button presses and that's about it. The rest of the game's sound all comes from the music itself.

When you die the music will distort slightly and the visuals will turn black and white and glitch before quickly returning you to the last checkpoint. This is good because it gives a penalty for dying but it also doesn't leave you feeling frustrated as the checkpoints are very frequent.

As well as the music changing the environment, sometimes you'll be given a degree of control too. If you jump on these squares they will gradually change places and make a bass hum as they do so.

140 is a fantastic platformer that knows exactly what it wants to do and does it with a lot of precision and care. It's very short which might put some people off, but it's well worth the price and the hardcore mode which is unlocked after completing the game adds a lot of challenge and may take a while to finish.

There isn't anything that 140 does badly in any way, it's just a great experience that I recommend anyone who's a fan of platformers, electronic music, indie games or 'art games' gives a try. I would also give it a go if you're a fan of LIMBO or INSIDE and want something else to sink your teeth into, obviously the tone of the game is completely different but the design of the levels themselves are very similar (as they would be, being made by the same person). Plus it's now out on pretty much every game console, so there's no reason you can't get it.

9/10

Pros

- It has a very minimal control scheme, story and visual style. But it doesn't just do it for no reason, it reflects the style of game it is and everything is built around this simplicity, even to the point of it not having a pause menu.

- The music is catchy and memorable and it's an interesting concept to have the music dictate the movement of the levels.

- It's short, but has a lot of variety and never gets boring from a gameplay or visual perspective.

- It offers a challenge in the way of the hardcore mode, but it isn't frustrating because it's entirely optional and you can enjoy the full experience without completing this.

- The boss levels are some of the most fun and memorable I've played in a platformer in a very long time.

Cons

- The inclusion of a time attack, puzzle mode or multiplayer mode would have been great and given the game a little bit more content to sink our teeth into.