Entwined

Unveiled at E3, Entwined is the first game out of Sony's Pixelopus studio. And it's one that will get you thinking. First, there's the storyline: a bird and a fish who are in love but can't be together. Your task is to guide their souls together over the course of nine lifetimes (no, really). The blurb promises a journey with "emotional flow". Sadly, the game fails to deliver because, despite its ambitions, what you're essentially doing is hitting targets and collecting objects. At the end of each level, you have to collect more objects, which allows you to skywrite, before moving on to the next lifetime. Entwined has its good points. The requirement to guide both characters simultaneously using the two analogue sticks puts your reflexes and coordination to the test. That can be a little like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time. And it's nicely designed. But once you've done marvelling at how fresh the game's approach is, it gets a little tedious. Challenge mode provides a little more excitement, but ultimately, Entwined falls short of expectations.