The Incident Review_ It's A Happening & It Freaks Me Out

The sky—and everything else—is falling in The Incident, an iPhone and iPad game that combines the randomized chaos of piling trash, a la Katamari Damacy, with the retro, one-button gameplay of platformers of old. The Incident presents a more charming apocalypse than we’re used to. Inexplicably, objects begin falling from the sky. As a high-jumping everyman, those falling objects must be dodged to avoid bonks on the head. And, as those objects collect in an ever amassing pile of stuff, our jumping hero must stay atop them, reaching great heights, eventually space and the cause for this curious catastrophic event.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); Clever, stylish and challenging, The Incident is the sort of event that’s worth taking part in. Loved One Man’s Trash: The constant downpour of hundreds of things—taxis, ladders, furniture, home appliances, signs, vending machines, Moai heads, watermelons, Piet Mondrian paintings, boomboxes, street signs, etc.—presents a constant threat to the player. Dodge falling items by tilting the iPhone or die after three bonks to the noggin. The awkwardly piling detritus presents an unstable, unpredictable surface on which to walk, climb and jump. Add in balloons that rise from the bottom of the screen that carry jinda44 with them power ups—health boosts, protective helmets—or power downs—an Ancient Curse!—and you’ve got a smartly designed shake-up of the platforming genre. The Incident feels well explored, mechanically, e19 and a perfect fit for Apple’s platform. Oh, I Get It: The Incident is attractively visually designed, but it was the game’s more clever references that appealed to me more than its graphics. There are amusing nods to films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Back to the Future and pop culture sources like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Incident tickles your geek side expertly while also providing the best Beard Mode of any game released in 2010. Hated With Difficulty & Luck: As the window for dodging objects gets shorter and things get more challenging near the game’s end, The Incident becomes more frustrating than fun. You’ll be placed in a few unavoidable pickles that can make actually finishing the game part lucky break, part brute force will. The Incident is a great concept and with a very good execution. It is, at times, repetitive and patience-testing. At others, it is intense and full of simple, pure arcade thrills. The Incident wins for its charms (and its surprisingly cheap price) betdog and should be on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. The Incident was developed by Big Bucket Software for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on August 10. Retails for $1.99 USD. Played game to completion on an iPhone 3G, experimented with Beard Mode. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ https://kotaku.com/about-kotaku-reviews-5012473