Downstream Panic!

I never thought I'd be a fisherman. I eat fish, but the thought of catching it everyday...it just didn't seem like something I was supposed to do with my life, not when hundreds of video games call my attention every year.

Now if you had offered me the chance to guide fish into environmental crevices, release them through tiny passageways and drop them into the safety of open water, my view of view of this fishy career might have changed.

In Downstream Panic!, an unusual puzzle game for PlayStation Portable, players are tasked with having to protect the fish and deliver them to the sea. How they wound up in danger in the first place, no one knows. They're trapped in a large bubble that floats above the world and releases them as soon as the player hits start. And guess who's waiting at the end of their journey? Hungry fish. Enormous ones, the kind you'd capture to hang on your wall, not to grill, bake or fry. (Darnit, now I'm getting hungry.)

There are also smaller carnivorous fish hidden between the cracks of the air-suspended environment that hangs between the bubble your fish drop from and the water your fish must reach to survive (the same water guarded by large, food-deprived fish). Is it me or does the concept of this game sound like it was born out of a crazy dream/nightmare? Regardless of where it came from, the results are unexpectedly exceptional. You can tell people about this game, explain its content, features, etc., but they won't know the beauty of its executions – and moderate innovations – until playing it themselves.

Levels. Oh the Levels.

The aforementioned description is just the beginning. At first, only one fish-filled bubble is there to release its contents. The first few environments are fairly straightforward, featuring pieces that are conveniently angled in your favor (that is, away from the deadly fish and lead into open water). But then the game starts to introduce power-ups – handy environment-changing items that can expand or reduce parts of the world. It isn't much like Fracture, the upcoming third-person action game for PS3 and Xbox 360, but the inspiration likely came from the same source. Whatever that source is, I'm not sure. In all my wildest game ideas, world deformation has not been one of them (until now of course).

If Downstream Panic! sounds puzzling but not like a puzzler, that's because it is anything but traditional. It's the way the developers designed each level that makes this game a part of the puzzle genre. Before a level begins, players may scroll up and down the environment to see what it looks like. Every stage is different – no annoying rehashes can be found. That being the case, you'd be wise to study the scene before diving in. Even then you have a good chance of losing. This is not a cruel game; you can retry as much as you like. But you will fall victim to the many traps that have been created.

Since fish need water to breathe, the game cleverly uses environmental pockets (rounded areas that have no gaps) to retain the water and fish as they drop from the bubbles. If the pocket is completely sealed up, you'll need a rocket power-up to blast a hole, allowing the fish to fall through. The number of rockets provided can be quite a challenge – you may think that three holes need to be made in order to reach the goal, when in fact there are only two rockets to spare. That means the developers have another solution in mind, one that you have yet to discover.

 
Harpoons let you kill small enemy fish, but you won’t find any of those power-ups in this stage.

Downstream Panic! isn't a timed puzzler. But if you take too long to release the fish from a pocket or some other area, the pocket may start to overflow. If that happens, they'll either be pushed over the edge and into the mouths of those who are hungry, or pushed into an area where a smaller – though equally deadly – carnivore lurks.

If rockets aren't handy, then you'd better hope the stage has at least one seashell-shaped faucet. Some are automated, releasing a small amount of water and fish every few seconds. Others are manual, allowing the player to turn them on and release as much as they desire. Both lead to additional, mind-boggling (but not frustrating) puzzle elements that must be solved on-the-fly in order to keep your fish from being devoured.

What if there aren't any rockets or faucets to speak of? Then you should have the world-expanding power-up: a small seed that can be planted and grown into a fish-blocking pillar. This pillar, though very small, is a key ingredient to many of the levels. You will need to use it to redirect the fish while falling, to increase the size of some pockets, and to completely block others. If there is no clear way to exit a pocket, you know that's one to avoid.

 
Now that’s genius.

Downstream Panic! is a stellar, uncommon game with some of the best and most clever challenges ever conceived. If you like puzzle games of any kind, you will be engrossed by all that this title has to offer.

Gameplay: 8.5
Unbelievably fun. Even losing is fun (though not as fun as winning!). The environmental designs and hard-to-beat challenges are a blast.

Graphics: 6.0
The visuals aren’t mind-blowing, but the detail is high and the effects are fairly efficient.

Sound: 6.0
Quirky, occasionally decent, and somewhat childish.

Difficulty: Medium
A thinking man’s game from start to finish.

Concept: 9.0
One of the most original puzzle games in years.

Overall: 8.5
Originality reigns supreme in this unusual masterpiece. A must-own for puzzle fans everywhere.