Who is God

Who is God?  Well I thought the answer was obvious: Jeremy Clarkson.  But apparently the guys at Magiko Gaming disagreed.  The latest game by the guys behind the Platformance series is one of those annoying “climb as high as you can” games that are all over the cell phone market like pimples on a teenaged Hershey enthusiast.  I’ve already played a similar title, Niji, and felt it stunk like rancid tuna.  Expectations were set low.

In Who is God you play as one of four deities who must hop from platform to platform on their way towards Heaven.  Jumping is done automatically, so all you really have to do is move the character.  Along the way, you collect stars which can be used to give you a boost, potentially saving you from death or just flinging you higher.  There’s a few different types of platforms to land on.  Some of them disappear once you hop off.  Some of them make new platforms appear.  Some of them steal precious star power from you.  I’m guessing those are called “WELL FUCK!” because that is what I often blurted out when I landed on one.

And that’s pretty much it.  You just climb as high as you can get and try to land on the high score list.  I’m currently #15 on the list and I’m sure everyone else will have the courtesy to not beat my score of 68,868 feet.

Actually by the time I started writing this review, I had already dropped to 18th.  Man, these high score lists can be humbling.  I want another crack at it.

Okay, 72,364.  I moved to 17th at least.  I might actually give it another chance later, but one of the problems is the maps are randomly generated.  Thus there’s always a degree of luck that sometimes outweighs any skill involved.

Who is God has no alternative modes of play right now.  Magiko does have a tendency to patch-in extra stuff later on, so that might change, but for now what you see is what you get.  And what you get is actually a surprisingly fun experience.  If you’re looking for something deep and complex, go read some Melville.  Who is God is pure, stupid bliss.  It’s one of those games that makes your palms sweat and your fingers twitch.  I can’t even tell you what I thought about the graphics or the sound because I was so sucked in to it that I didn’t even notice.  I told my boyfriend I would play it for thirty minutes and I ended up playing for nearly two hours.  That is the mark of a good game.  My only petty complaint is the name.  Who is God.  What is this, Jeopardy?  Otherwise, I really enjoyed it.  And hey, since it seems like the average Xbox 360 owner’s only goal in life is to see how high they can get, this should fit them like a glove.

Who is God was developed by Magiko Gaming

80 Microsoft Points were children of lesser Gods in the making of this review.