The third and final Games for the Holidays title has been released. The super secret game is named ilomilo. Now, I’ve heard it pronounced
ilomilo is a tough game to describe. It is an adorable story about ilo and milo trying to make their way back to each other. Oh crap, I just described it. Before I can continue this review, please be ready to read the words “adorable,” “cute,” and possible “awe” a lot.
SouthEnd Interactive created a world of absolute whimsy and dream-scape. It feels like one part felt fabric and the other part squeaky toy. The world moves and interacts with ilo and milo as they cross it. Cute little sounds come from their feet as they venture along each course to find their better half. Adorable chimes are heard when items are picked up, dropped down, or an error action has occurred. I have actually racked up a very large step count on many maps to just listen to their little feet waddle across a long row of blocks. Awe!
But, just because the game takes a lighter tone to portray its environment, it is by no means adorably easy. During the prologue, ilo and milo will be shown just a small fraction of the types of obstacles that face their 4 chapter journey. Their skillset is as follows, stepping one block either forward/backward or left/right, picking up blocks, and setting them down. That’s it. That is all she wrote. Your basic abilities are tightly bound, but a variety of moves don’t make good puzzle games, now do they? ilomilo depends on complex thinking and a vast ability to think 3 dimensionally. Now, I’m not talking In RealD 3D cinemas. Just your average XYZ axis navigation.
The singleplayer is fun and fascinating. You get to control both ilo and milo independently but not simultaneously. Working as both of the characters makes it a lot of fun to see both sides of the puzzle. Now it isn’t a puzzle of getting from point A to point B. But, how can point A and B make it to C. Which, if you are a skilled puzzle solver, will be so much more complex. This is like starting a maze at both ends but not being able to make it to either side because of a road block. So now you have to figure out which one of the sides can solve the problem on the other side. Confusing, yes. Troublesome, yes. Fun, yes.
I personally didn’t get to experience the multiplayer first hand. I don’t have a secondary person to grab a hold of and make them play the cuteness. I have seen others play, and from everything I’ve seen, it looks even more adorable and cute and awe. It is only local co-op, so that is downer to all those wanting to play with your best buddies of the net. While ilo is navigating, milo wandering around the screen like a cute little butterfly. And while milo is navigating, ilo is the beautiful butterfly. This is the only way to find and successfully get all your achievements. Achievement Hunter came out with a walk through of just such a thing.
For the last three weeks, each Wednesday, Microsoft had released one game for their Games for the Holidays. Now, all of them have been released and, if you didn’t know, the three titles have cross-functional content between them. For those curious of what is actually in the other titles, I will elaborate just a bit. I will start with the first released and concluding with the latest.
A World of Keflings: You are able to build houses for ilo and milo and the Raskull characters. You get a little nook for ilo and milo, and a Raskully home for Raskull characters.
Raskulls: You get ilo and Doug as optional mulitplayer characters.
ilomilo: Players can change their costume with the D-Pad and will see multiple costumes from both Raskulls and a World of Keflings characters.
Score: 7/10 : Great game. Mind-blowing puzzles. Beautiful environment.
ilomilo was developed by SouthEnd Interactive and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 on December 29st, 2010 and Windows 7 Phone on November 8th, 2010. A copy of the Xbox 360 version was provided to us by Microsoft for review purposes.
