Gravity Duck review for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

The similarities between Gravity Duck and Hoggy 2 are pretty significant — and not just because they?ve both been published this summer by Ratalaika Games. Both are puzzle-platformers where you can?t actually jump, but instead you flip gravity, so that you go from the floor to the ceiling and down again in order to traverse gaps and get to the end of the level. On top of that, in both games the levels are relatively short, and finish once you?ve collected all the objects — a single golden egg in the case of Gravity Duck (compared to a bunch of fruits in Hoggy 2), but the gist is the same.

Unfortunately, the similarities end once you start talking about quality. Because where I?m still playing Hoggy 2 now, more than I month after I platinumed it, I?ve grabbed all the trophies I can in Gravity Duck (well before I came anywhere close to finishing all 140 levels it contains), and I have no desire to ever play it again.

The problem is, it?s just nowhere near as enjoyable. It?s ugly, for starters. Whereas Hoggy 2 filled its world with bright, colourful characters with personality, here you have kinda-retro-looking ducks, and bats, and caterpillars, in dull-coloured worlds that all blend together. The music is generic chiptunes. The levels are all mostly easy enough to figure out, and many can be beaten in a matter of seconds. The story — a duck is promised riches if it gathers a bunch of golden eggs — feels rote. Basically, in every respect, Gravity Duck feels like a lesser version of Hoggy 2.

It?s not helped by the fact the two games came out only a few months apart, nor by the fact that they?re the same price. True, both are under $5. But Hoggy 2 feels like it?s worth a few times that price, whereas Gravity Duck probably would only be worth checking out if it were a free online Flash game.

Ratalaika Games provided us with a Gravity Duck PS4/Vita code for review purposes.