Exception is a fast paced action platformer where the goal is to reach the end of the level as fast as possible to compete on steam leaderboards, however it’s not quite as simple as that as there are a few twists involved, and I don’t just mean the fact that the levels can both rotate and reconfigure as you progress through them to make life more difficult both across 2D planes but also on a third dimensional rotation making levels interesting in a whole new aspect.
The twists in the levels involve mastering achievements which provide chunks of time reductions from your total score and discovering the best path using these techniques in order to get the shorted possible final time after deductions, and while many of the levels are cleverly designed to incorporate paths where you can destroy the objects in the world and the enemies on the way gathering scores for combo attacks, not getting hit or hitting “allies” along the way this doesn’t mean that taking shortcuts through a level to the exit might not be the faster route.
Along the way you unlock new powers which help you along your way to gaining better scores and faster times as well as making life easier as you progress through the levels and these powers can be upgraded further by collecting bytes which are scattered around the game often in out of the way locations adding additional challenges to the game.
Aesthetically the game follows a tron like neon colourful style as the universe revolves within an electronic universe within the computer of an old lady who has inadvertently installed a virus on her computer, and this has created changes within the universe which leads to the plot of the game, and you unlock a further memory of the storyline every world you complete as though you’re uncorrupting the data and memories of what has passed.
There are 16 worlds each with 10 levels most of which have an end game boss with a new challenge to uncover and defeat in order to progress further, and as you progress into later worlds more challenges are added to the levels along with more enemies gradually making the game harder to progress through and especially harder to get the best times on the leaderboards, this progression means that the game doesn’t feel like you’re doing the same things over and over as new challenges are added to master and harder to traverse platforming challenges are added.
I particularly like the uniqueness of the challenges on offer, with rotational teleporting and often twisting on the 3d plane of the levels creating a unique experience for a challenging action platformer, and the levels are challenging enough without being too diffiuclt that you feel an achievement in defeating the levels and if you’re able to pull off a path that incorporates taking down the enemies and hazards of the level and get a good position on the leaderboard it adds a real sense of achievement.
You will experience many hours of gameplay with worlds taking 20-30 minutes to progress through and even more gameplay on offer through hunting down missed bytes as well as the challenge of mastering levels to provide better leaderboard scores for those who desire to be the best at levels, and considering you have to master the balance between speed and achievements which provide bonus deductions on your time this is a more challenging prospect than simply running through the level as fast as possible which creates a more intricate and challenging time and adds to the replayability in order to master these levels fully.
Considering the game is £12 at release this is a very reasonable price as you’re going to get many hours of gameplay through simply playing through to completion and you’ll feel challeneged throughout as the game increases the difficulty on you, along with unlocking a narrative storyline along the way which is pretty interesting as a reward for progression. I feel like this is a worthy addition to the genre and offers more than just another action platformer with it’s unique features bringing plenty of additional challenge for true mastery as well as an interesting visual nature as the world twists and rotates around you while you play making your skills look even more spectacular as you navigate platforming challenges which weren’t initially visible on another dimension the instant the world rotates around you.
Get Exception for yourself on steam now at https://store.steampowered.com/app/456390/Exception/