Review: Flywrench

Posted by Curtis H on February 23rd, 2017 | 0 Comments | Tags: Flywrench

Flywrench is far more than the simplistic graphics might let on, these colored lines create diabolically difficult obstacle courses that will take the utmost skill to complete. Capitalizing off short levels and instant respawns, Flywrench follows in Super Meat Boy’s footsteps by presenting a challenge that’s harder to put down than it is to finish.

The rules are simple: navigate the ship through the level without hitting walls, adjusting the ships polarity (colors) to pass through shapes, and reach the goal as fast as possible. The ship is a simple white line that can ‘flap’ to maintain flight throughout the stage. This is the main form of control and, like Meat Boy, gives the perfect amount of control needed for the tasks ahead. Flapping will only get the ship so far, though, as colored shapes are positioned as barriers and will destroy anything that touches them. Thankfully, the ship can fold in on itself and spin to change its polarity and thus its color. Matching the ship’s color with the barriers in a level will allow the ship to pass through completely unharmed. The game starts simple enough, change color for a second or two before reverting back, and then continues to build off its color shifting premise. Eventually you’ll need to swap between all three colors in quick succession, while flapping through Spinning Lines of Doom, and twisting through tight corridors. It’s tough, exhilarating, and over before you blink.

Progression through Flywrench starts with Pluto and ends directly at the Sun. Completing a set number of levels unlocks the next closest planet while completing every level unlocks the final stage on the Sun. Each planet typically introduces something new to the equation and gently expands upon it throughout all of its stages. Eventually you’ll reach stages with lines that move and rotate, cannons that shoot missiles, and time-sensitive switches. In general the difficulty curve is actually pretty nice up until Mercury, in which the game suddenly spikes in difficulty to a dramatic degree. It’s a bit of a “The Real Flywrench Begins Here” moment.

Helmet Mode acts as an easy difficulty if any part of the game is proving to be too much. With this mode turned on the ship is given a helmet that protects it from crashing into walls. It also destroys colored shapes as you pass through them, which can really help trivialize some later stages.

So, Flywrench is excellent, it features a great soundtrack that you can check out here, and it killed me well over 3000 times. It’s legitimately a lot of fun, just be warned that if you pick it up, you might have a hard time quitting.

A copy of this game was purchased for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here.