‘Ello Time Wasters!
As daring a man as I am, I felt that covertly playing a phone game while the bosses stalked the cubicles wasn’t enough to fulfill my time wasting needs for this week. So I turned once again to my computer to find out just what I could alt-tab back and forth between for my enjoyment.
I seemed to strike more casual game gold when my search landed me on the game of Skywire 2. Seeing the 2 in the title had me wondering whether or not to go back and play the first one just to see the differences. But after beating all the levels of the game, I was happy to see that I had unlocked the levels of Skywire 2’s predecessor, so no worries there. All I can say to that is that if you liked the first Skywire, you’re going to love the second one since it’s more of the same with some new and clever mechanics.
So what’s the game about? Well, the whole point of this game is to guide your cart along the rail, avoiding the robotic creatures that will knock one of your three passengers out if they touch you. If you lose all three passengers, then you have to try again. And trust me when I say that sometimes they really don’t make it easy for you (I particularly don’t like dogs and monkeys because of this reason).
Gameplay for Skywire 2 (and one as well) is about as easy as you can get: Up Arrow for going forward on the rail, Down Arrow for going back. And all the while you’re pushing your two buttons, you’re focusing on avoiding the slew of animals that are scattered about the level, each one blocking your progress in some way be it by sitting on your rail, dropping bombs, or something else entirely.
I found out quickly that timing was the key to everything: whether it was avoiding water spouting whales, dive bombing ducks, parachuting pandas, or anything else that was thrown my way. Though sometimes I just hit forward and prayed that it worked, which it did on those very few levels it was meant to.
But what’s the difference between Skywire 1 and 2? Let me tell you. The second has 30 levels compared to the first game’s 20, an estimated 10 more clockwork critters to watch out for (though there may be more, there were a ton), breakable rails, jumps, and every 10th level you must fight/avoid a large animal boss. Fair warning, that last boss is a real killer.
This game has an almost kiddy like charm with its little pixel characters and their chipmunk styled voices, and the clever use of multiple animals turned obstacle had me curious about each new one I saw.
I felt compelled to beat every level, even with a few of them really testing just how determined I was to be the victor. And with that said, I recommend it.
Skywire 2 rails in with 4.5 GiN gems out of 5!