GLO is a minimalistic platformer where you are a square and must reach the exit depicted by an outline of a square.  But the gimmick here is that most of the screen is pitch black, and only the small area around your square is illuminated.  So you have to do a lot of blind jumps and careful maneuvering.  GLO is available on PS4 and 5 as well as Nintendo Switch, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Your square can jump and double jump, as well as climb walls similar to Mega Man X.  I wish the controls were more like, that, though, as climbing walls doesn’t feel as responsive and it doesn’t seem you have as much control over your jumps as I would’ve liked.  You can also fire bullets that can light up the area as well as destroy enemies, but the game does a poor job describing how that works.  You can choose to play any level you’ve beaten or a speedrun mode if you’re into that sort of thing.

The game has over two dozen levels with a boss at the end.  I managed to get to around level 20 before giving up out of frustration, as it gets pretty hard by then. But I still somehow managed to platinum this game with all the trophies!  I just don’t think games where you can’t see where you’re going are very fun.

Kid Factor:

GLO is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Language.  As you play, you’ll see text in the background that gives this game some semblance of a story, although it’s totally unnecessary.  I didn’t notice any bad words in the text, but considering you can’t see most of the screen, can you blame me?  The only ‘violence’ is exploding squares and other shapes, and reading skill isn’t necessary just to play.  But younger gamers may still get frustrated at the high difficulty.

Tags: Game Reviews