Tearaway Unfolded: Rip In Peace

Tearaway Unfolded is a game I really wanted to like, but sadly that is not the case.

Tearaway is a simple 3D platformer set in a papercraft world, where you manipulate the environment yourself alongside exploring it. The charming and cute papercraft style finds a happy medium between high visual fidelity and stylized art direction, and it’s nice to see a 3D platformer like this on a non-Nintendo console for once, since it’s a type of game that’s hard to come by today. Going back to exploring cute environments is a nice change of pace.

Unfortunately, deep down Tearaway just doesn’t have that much on offer. The platforming doesn’t have much going for it besides gimmicks based around the PS4 controller’s functions, which really only amount to swiping a touch pad or motion detection in lieu of button or analog stick input, like an expensive tech demo. The linear levels are sprinkled with secrets, but your only reward is currency to use on customization. The game makes a big deal of customizing every aspect of it, including in-game props, but the customization options are all pretty shallow. When all you get for sweeping a level is stickers, then there’s barely any incentive to explore but for its own sake.

As middling as it is, right now the PS4 is starved for decent platformers, and Tearaway is clearly at the top of this small heap. However, compared to other games in its genre on other systems, Tearaway is nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s a shame, really.

Platform: Playstation 4
Developer: Tarsier Studios, Media Molecule
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date: September 8th, 2015
PEGI rating: 7+

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