Do you remember that crazy Mel Gibson movie
Apocalypto?
The one with the Mayan in a loin cloth running
around in the jungles of Central America?
The makers of Totem Run sure do, and they
decided to remove the religious subtext of
the film and replace it with level after level
of running, jumping, and spiritual transcendence.
The result is Totem Runner, an action-filled
endless-runner that sees your Mayan-on-a-mission
dashing through beautifully rendered artistic
environments as he tries to restore balance
to world of nature while occasionally turning
into a bird, boar, and flying electric dragon
monster.
Totem Runner plays like a traditional endless-runner.
When a level starts, your character charges
off toward the right side of your screen and
you can do nothing to slow, stop, or alter
his course.
What you do have control over is a 'plant'
button that brings plants, flowers, and shrubs
into existence ex nihilo.
The more plants that you, err, plant, the
higher the score you'll earn for a level,
so it's in your best interests to keep your
finger firmly rooted on that virtual button.
Unlike in many other endless-runners, you
can't jump in Totem Runner, yet the game has
no problem confronting you with bottomless
pits and ravines full of spikes and brambles.
Thankfully, it presents an interesting solution
to this seemingly insurmountable problem.
After completing the early parts of the game,
you'll unlock three totem animals that you
can transform into: a bird, a boar, and a
sort of electric dragon-y thing.
The bird allows you to fly, the boar will
charge through enemies and walls of vines,
and the electric dragon will power you through
a level without paying heed to whatever obstacles
or enemies lie before you.
The boar and bird are at-will transformations,
and you will need to toggle between those
two and your human form several times throughout
a level to progress through challenges and
earn as many points as possible.
By contrast, the electric dragon is sort of
power-up item that requires you to collect
50 gems to use.
It's a great way to literally tear through
challenging portions of a level, but you won't
be able to plant seeds and thus earn points.
Switching between the totems rapidly becomes
the focus of the game, as you'll need to know
when to transform into a bird (when you see
a gap), when to transform into a boar (when
you want to smash things), and when to transform
into a dragon (when you're frustrated).
This management mechanic starts off simple
enough in early levels, allowing you to soak
up the gorgeous artwork of the levels, but
after a few stages you'll be transforming
from bird to boar in mid-air long enough to
duck under an enemy's arrow and then transforming
back into a human to earn more points.
There's really not much to say against Totem
Runner.
The music is a touch repetitious and the tilt
controls for the bird are a bit sub-par, but
outside of those missteps it looks and plays
like an exceptional endless-runner with an
added, and quite fun, twist.
The only thing really holding Totem Runner
back is its lack of variety and challenge
in terms of levels themselves.
A pure endless mode would be a welcome addition
to the game in a future update.
If you're in the market for a visually pleasing
endless-runner with novel gameplay, it's difficult
to think of a better game for your money than
Totem Runner.
