My library of games to play keeps growing, no thanks to Humble Weekly Bundles, but the time and drive that I have for playing games has shrunk. I have been trying to finish games as week-long test-drives are just filling me with more guilt. At the same time, I have also been more tempted to drop games if they don’t hook me soon enough. Element4l was one of those games I nearly dropped, but decided to keep with.

I’ve had a fascination with the theme of classical elements (earth, water, air, fire) since middle school/early high school when I wrote my first novella around them and started designing a website for it. When I saw Element4l offered in the Humble Weekly Bundle and it didn’t look like a cheesy use of the theme, I had to give it a shot.

Element4l is something of a platformer with hints of an endless runner. It is similar to Trine in that you are in control of a single, mutable character. Each form you take has different aspects. You start off as an air bubble, whose primary direction is “up.” As you work through the Intro stages, you gain control over ice (no primary direction), earth (primary direction “down”), and finally fire (primary direction “right”).

The game is difficult because the physics are unforgiving and seems to err on the side of conservative. There are also some quirks that make no sense at all. As much of the progression depends on momentum, losing momentum can leave you stuck, causing you to have to restart from a checkpoint. Checkpoints are the saving grace of the game in terms of progression and there are numerous checkpoints, but sometimes you just want to skip a particularly hard obstacle. And sometimes, it’s pretty clear when an obstacle requires a lot of momentum if the checkpoint is pretty far back.

There’s a help option after you have failed a few times. Using this option shows the “ghost” of Mr. Smooth, a ghost-like version of yourself. The only problem is you have to chase after Mr. Smooth to see what he does and often he gives hints on how to get past an obstacle, rather than a full video. In trickier obstacles, it can be difficult to chase after him and you’re better off watching a YouTube video.

Most of the time, you’ll be in ice form because you’ll retain much of your ground momentum that way. If you need to move to the right faster, hitting right (fire), then left (ice) will get you more momentum. If you need to move to the left, you’re out of luck. I found associating the primary movements with each element helps in mentally mapping what you want to do to the keys you need to press.

Changing forms also cost energy, with the exception of ice. This mechanic adds to the complexity of playing an otherwise simple game. However, much like the physics erring on the side of conservative, energy use and refill rate is a bit slower than I’d like. There are sparks conveniently placed in areas where you’ll need them, and absent when you won’t. These sparks fill up your energy back to full, but I found sometimes mashing buttons while reaching a spark will make the spark seem fruitless. There is an “elegant,” minimalist in terms of key presses, way to play, which is the only way to get through the game.

The terrain is not conducive to an endless runner (or “slider” in the case of ice) because it’s not all downhill. There’s one set of stages that is about climbing up a mountain. There are slopes and cross-sections of half-pipes to help you on your way. This describes many of the stages in the game.

There are various obstacles as well. Earth and ice forms are the only ones that can remain in contact with the ground or walls. Fire and air will burst and you’ll have to start over. Earth, ice, and air can touch water, but air won’t survive a waterfall. Fire can bounce off of a lava wall, but all four forms will die in a lava pit or spray. All four forms will also die when in contact with radioactive surfaces (green).

The music aimed for ambient, similar to Eufloria, but there were a few upbeat tracks and measures. Unfortunately, the soundtrack is an endless loop and not triggered by actions you take or where you are in a stage. This can make the upbeat sections of the soundtrack out of sync (i.e., breaking the suspension of disbelief) when you’re in rock form pondering your next move. However, I did enjoy the soundtrack for its quirkiness.

The art style has a constant vintage/noise/static overlay that is reminiscent of Limbo and similar games. There is heavy use of silhouettes to give the impression of mountains, slopes, trees, and railroad tracks. Unfortunately, it is not always clear what you’ll end up rolling/sliding on as you’ll just fall through the railroad tracks unless you’re in a railroad car. Likewise, you won’t ever run into a tree. Parallax is also used to give a sense of depth, but I found myself too immersed in the current obstacle to pay much attention to the illusion. In general, it’s difficult to figure out what is a prop and what is not by just looking. You’ll end up having to run into it and find out. (Hint: waterfalls are not part of the scenery.)

This game put me in an irritated mood for at least a day after I played. (And I played this for multiple days with a break or two in the middle.) It’s frustrating when you have to get the timing just right and if the physics is wrong for some reason, you’ll have to start over. The game is just unforgiving. I think the main reason I stuck with it was out of general stubborness and the small bit of gratitude that the game was at least short. It helped when I watched YouTube videos and saw other players were having just the same amount of difficulty and frustration as I did.

There are extra challenges, like finding dark sparks (dark swirly blobs), but I don’t see myself going back through the game just for that. I was swearing up a storm while playing, then being vocal about bad drivers when I was muddling my way through traffic to and from work. I think I’ll be happy that just finished the game, thanks.

If you want a good challenge, give Element4l a try. If you’re prone to throwing things in frustration, I would suggest staying away from this game. I assume it’s fun to watch someone play, but, really, I would like to throw a brick at my monitor, the game, and the devs. It’s not “fun” and the sense of accomplishment diminishes exponentially the more time you sink into one obstacle. Slight tweaks, like the rate of the rising lava on the very last obstacle or even shaving off a bit off the top of the last hill would make the game more enjoyable. I realize this may vary depending on skill level and I could easily see the devs starting off with very hard obstacles and then scaling it back for the less savvy. But really: Brick meet game.