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Switchball (Crazyball on PC) is the latest Xbox Live Arcade title to roll onto Xbox Live Arcade. Switchball to put it simply is controlling a marble ball to solve the map’s puzzles. This may sound simple but the puzzles are not. There are five worlds with six different levels to play on Switchball. Each level, the puzzles start to get more complicated and frustration will set in.
The whole premise of Switchball is to solve puzzles. The developer Atomic Elbow does a good job breaking you in to combat harder levels. The problem is that these puzzles can get somewhat repetitive. At first, you have that awe moment once solving a puzzle but after awhile, it feels all the same. The puzzles get harder but it uses the same methods and designs from the previous puzzles that been completed. What use to be figuring out to solve puzzles, became how fast can I get threw this level already. There can be few surprises but it doesn’t seem varied enough to notice the difference. Switchball is helped by changing yourself into different type of balls for new abilities but the level of diversity isn’t there.
The game is given some replay value with multiplayer modes like co-op and race matches. I can imagine these game modes would be fun but nobody is on to play even at peak hours. So I honestly can’t review this part of the game but I can definitely imagine the single player mode being fun with co-op. At this moment, no one plays Switchball on Xbox Live which is really unfortunate. (I mean no one as in zero players)
The most noticeable part while playing Switchball is the highly detailed graphics. This is probably the biggest surprise while playing an arcade game nonetheless. I was truly amazed at how polished this game looks and how detailed it was. The only problem is the screen tearing which is very noticeable. It doesn’t necessarily hinder the experience but it definitely is a blemish mark on how beautiful this games looks. Using a blur effect on distance objects highlights the details. It really works well with Switchball and it shows the AEIGA engine potential.
The controls, even though trying to stimulate the movement of a marble ball, are definitely frustrating. This is probably the biggest problem with Switchball, hurting the experience as a whole. I never thought that my thumb would get sore by using a joystick. Trying to deal with a clunky ball, you also have to get the camera angle into a good position to push some of the smaller objects like another ball the way you want. Something that would relativity take up to 20 seconds to do is hinder by the controls which will take you more than a minute. I cannot express how frustrating it is controlling this marble/ball is in Switchball.
Also, the soundtrack is as average as it comes but you can always dub it over with your own soundtrack. There is nothing really off with the sound itself so there isn’t much to say about it.
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Overall, Switchball is a fun puzzle game but tends to get repetitive at the end of the levels. It is also frustrating with how hard it is to control a simple marble ball. It would definitely be worth a purchase if there were people on Xbox Live once in a while to enjoy multiplayer modes. Multiplayer would seem like a real treat but nobody is on to play it. The lack of community support is probably what hinders Switchball the most next to the controls. What could boost it is a price drop just it liven things up. For a single player experience alone? You best bet is to download the trail game to see if you it enough to warrant a purchase.
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