Zen Bound 2 review
Early 2009 saw Secret Exit bring to the App Store a game that pushed the iPhone gaming world into a bold new direction. No blasting, no time limits, no desperate fight for survival, and no race for first place. Zen Bound was marketed as a game to enhance your calm, to de-stress yourself, to find some “Zen” after a hard day’s work.
It could certainly lay claim to all that was expected of it, and none of the claims turned out to be false bravado or lofty ambitious hype on the behalf of its makers. It offered a refreshingly serene experience. Just you, a block of crafted wood, two nails and some rope for company.
It was easy to lose yourself in the previous offering, and I’m glad to say that it’s more of the same second time around. Secret Exit have introduced some new elements to Zen Bound, such as paint bombs that are tethered to your rope in staggered fashion, and explode paint on the statue where it touches. Otherwise it’s exactly the same. You have a set amount of rope which you have to tie around the statue. Rolling your finger in any direction turns the statue within three dimensional space, whilst the tilt control can be used to simulate gravity on the rope. As the rope touches the wood, it lays down a blotch of paint. Once you cover 75% of the statue you can tie your rope, or try and get 100% coverage for added “flowers” which unlock more levels faster.
A smooth, down beat offering from “Ghost Monkey” provides the ambient soundtrack to accompany the softly creaking wood, and the gentle twanging of suddenly released rope from an edge. Thankfully Secret Exit have left the game to evolve on its on merit, and have just fed the growth with an offering of over 100 levels, a full inclusion of the prequel Zen Bound and a special Tree of Tribute, with levels inspired from indie iPhone 4 games.
Literally hours can be spent getting absorbed into Zen Bound 2 such is the hypnotic effect of the gameplay. It’s a fulfilling experience to try and achieve100% paint coverage on a statue, matched just as much when discovering the shape of the next and pondering on the best course of action.
Generously Zen Bound 2 is a download that is compatible with both iPhone 4 and iPad, whilst perfectly playable on the previous generations of iPhone and current crop of iPod Touch. The use of the retina screen of the iPhone 4 however is a must. To provide gameplay to both iPad and below, the font size when displayed on the iPhone 4 is very small but perfectly readable. But reviews from customers using anything else are reporting it is difficult to read the small in-game font.
The only other gripe one can have for Zen Bound 2 is the fact it would be great if the progress could be synced from one device to the iPad via iTunes, avoiding doubling up the gameplay. But for such an atmospheric game with flowing gameplay, nerve calming music and sounds, it doesn’t seem to be about progress as such, more of the experience itself. And for that reason alone it deserves to be on your download list.
