Oh right, you’re probably wondering about that whole “gravity bending” thing, right? So here’s the deal: the game, at its core, is a cover-based third-person shooter, very much in the vein of Gears of War. However, in addition to the usual array of weaponry, you also have access to something called a Gravlink, which is basically a gun that shoots gravity (not to be confused with the Gravity Gun). This gun has two settings: high gravity and low gravity, and creates a small pocket of either whenever you shoot it at a particular location. For example, if you shoot a pocket of strong gravity at someone, it will instantly pull them prone to the ground (similar to when you’re bleeding out in Modern Warfare). However, if you shoot a puddle of low gravity, it will instead force that person into the air, making them extremely vulnerable. In either case, it’s very disorientating for the victim and greatly limits their mobility. Pretty cool, right? Now these gravitational pockets can also be used on objects too, so you may want to think twice before using something mobile such as a car or box for cover, lest you potentially find yourself exposed in short order. You can also use it to grab and fling nearby objects, similar to Half-Life 2.

For better or worse, you can’t fire the Gravlink willly-nilly. Like most weapons, you’re limited by the amount of ammo you can carry, which is four shots in this case. While this will partially refill over time during the story mode, you’re restricted by what you find in multiplayer scattered around the level. Though this may seem restrictive, it strongly encourages strategic use of gravity manipulation.

 

In addition to creating gravity wells, you can also opt to use some of that Gravlink ammo to instead create a shield, increasing your resistance to the enemy’s fire. It’s also recommended that you keep one unit of gravity on you at all times, which enables you to free yourself of another’s gravity-pocket--something that is extremely important unless you enjoy being an easy target. Finally, if you find yourself surrounded, you can also create a mini-shockwave to blast any nearby foes back a short distance.

 

We started off playing Deathmatch on the Plaza map: a small, urban area, complete with a gravity-less central plaza that allowed us to cross in almost any direction in a manner very similar to Dead Space. Though the goal of the game was typical, the gravity-based options at our disposal added a healthy dose of originality to what might otherwise feel like a pretty standard shooter. I found it quite enjoyable using the high gravity setting to stick my opponents to the ground, before circling around them and filling them full of lead. Though I found the reversal of that scenario to be much less enticing, though it should be mentioned that even when foiled by gravity, you’re still able to defend yourself even in this vulnerable state.

After that, we tried out the game’s take on Capture the Hill, called Hourglass. In this mode, both teams fight for control of a central area, with the gravity switching directions, (i.e. up becomes down) each time a different team takes control. It’s a little disorientating, but also adds an interesting dynamic when you’re in the heat of battle.

Finally, we tried Survival, which is basically Inversion’s take on Gears of War’s Horde mode combined with Fear 3’s Run, Fucking Run. In this mode, you work cooperatively with up to four other friends in order to make it through a series of checkpoints, killing all the enemies in each area before the time limit expires. Though you start with 10-minutes, you’ll be awarded more time at each checkpoint, which you’ll have to fight for as each one also generally yields a boss-fight of some kind. It’s in this mode that we also saw how gravity-pockets could be successfully used on AI based enemies. For example, several of the enemies carried large shields that made them all but penetrable. Fortunately, we could fire a pocket of low-gravity at them, causing their underbelly to be exposed. Survival mode also borrows a little from Left4Dead with its Adaptive A.I. approach which dynamically adjust the game’s difficulty depending on the amount of players and their performance.

 

After an hour and a half with Inversion, I was only then becoming competent with the gravity powers. Though there’s a learning curve, it’s one that’s enjoyable to learn and left me intrigued for more. However, we did encounter several severe bouts of slowdown, which the developers attribute to it being an early build. There’s still plenty of time for them to correct this, as the game’s not due for release until sometime next year. Stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Inversion as we approach its release.