Something for ‘Nothing’!

By: Xander

On: September 15th, 2007

Nothing is the freeware 2D Action/Adventure Platformer currently in development by Logan Ames, with music from Sam Dillard. Sound is currently unavailable in the current build, so currently you can just make noises as you play and insert your own name here for funsies. According to the website, the project began after Logan was influenced by Cave Story, and Pixel’s ability to create something with such beauty with so few colours. Well, we’ve all played Cave Story by now, and so chances are then you know what he’s talking about. While definitely sharing some stylistic qualities, ‘Nothing’ separates itself in a few ways, namely there’s a bigger focus on Metroidvania style exploration and power-up collection and the main character is less a robot and more a fictionalised species of quadraped.

Gameplay-wise it should be fairly familiar to you. You explore, fight, upgrade, explore and fight some more! Not that that’s a bad thing of course, if you enjoy it. But, definitely the selling point of this game for me was the hero, currently nameless as I understand it (Though “Nothing” is itself a place-holder name until an official one is decided. It’s a great name as it stands. And come to think of it so is Logan Ames. Lucky…grumble grumble) you play as a four-legged cat-eared creature that awakens in a cavern. That simple fact alone injects some life in what commenter Chris would probably refer to as “another bloody sidescroller”, and he’s just adorable enough for you to occasionally forget what you were aiming to do in the first place.

(More in the extended! I need some kind of catchphrase for that…)

There are plenty of brilliant touches that add extra dimensions to the creature when he’s comprised of so simple a colour scheme. Attacking sends him clawing with both front paws, but crouching while attacking leads him to swipe with just a single paw like some kind of playful kitten. When turning from right to left (or left to right I guess, if you swing that way) he turns towards the screen quite smoothly, and it’s actually possible to stop him mid-turn so he faces the camera. You can then tweak him slightly to point in almost any angle on that 180 degree line, and make him bark in (silent) exuberance.

Despite knowing this takes place on a 2D plane like Cave Story, it’s harder to think of him as just a series of animations linked together because of this. It’s like watching that Sooty and Co. episode where Sweep fell through the attic and his legs poked out the floor. Suddenly seeing a character from angles you’re not used to makes you feel as if they’re a lot more real then you first believed.

Currently, there’s only a demo of the 1st area of the game to playthrough, but it should be enough to get a feel of the direction the rest of the game is going. I recommend running no-config before you play for the first time to check the controls and configure your gamepads. Apparently that’s the creators preferred method of playing the game, but to be honest it controls fairly well on a keyboard anyway. There’s also a few hints from the developer himself, such as holding up whilst moving to stay facing in the same direction while attacking, which is very helpful for bosses. A video is also available so you can have a look at the later areas of the game and the more complex powers you can receive. It’s certainly looking to be a great addition to the genre, with enough smart design choices and stylistic touches to keep me salivating until it finally gets released.

No release date is announced so far, but we’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything!

(Thanks again, Melly!)