ART270 Assignment 01 GAME LEVEL CRITIQUE

Spoiler Warning: Lots and lots of Bastion spoilers.

This is a critique of the level Tazal Terminals from the game Bastion.  Bastion takes place in a strange fantasy setting that has just suffered a great calamity that destroyed an entire civilization.  The main character and a few survivors have been trying to collect pieces to power up this machine called the Bastion in order to undo the calamity.  Tazal Terminals is the final level of the game.

Up before the Tazal Terminals, the main character has been trying to collect pieces to restore the Bastion to functionality, but his friend Zulf has betrayed him and sent people from his tribe to steal the last piece needed.  The main character then has to go to their home in the Tazal Terminals in order to take the last crystal shard back.

The Tazal Terminal introduces a new mechanic at the last minute in the form of jumping.  The hero drinks this beverage that gives him the ability to actually jump, and must navigate a series of floating platforms in order to advance.  Later in the level, the game then gives the hero a massive battering ram to use as a weapon instead of the standard weapon he usually uses.  He has to use the battering ram to destroy obstacles blocking the path and to defeat all the enemies guarding the crystal shard.  In the end, the game offers you the choice of fighting your way out with the battering ram, or abandoning the ram and carrying your friend out.  Which choice you make drastically affects the mood of the rest of the level, and influences the ending of the game.

Here's a playthrough of the level: