Full Review of No Time to Explain - An Unexplainable Game

Kickstarter is responsible for the existence of many games. From something absurd and foolhardy like Exploding Kittens to a million-budget, the cinematic/dramatic game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. No Time to Explain belongs to the same category of crowdfunded shooty-blasty merriments. And this project begs the question: do the crowdfunded video-games have a moral right to exist?

Graphics: 2.5

That's where my vocabulary fails me and words refuse to come to my mind. Because of the immense resentment naturally. The visuals of the game are a crude flash-animation.

Xbox version is a remastered incarnation of No Time to Explain. But I personally fail to detect any encouraging difference between older and newer versions. Boorish graphical cheapness sorta smacks you right in the mouth (or rather eyes) and leaves an impression that the game was produced in MS Paint.

Physics are more or less decent, since the game has been re-polished on Unity. At least high jumps, abrupt falls, and ferocious flights feel very close to realistic.
Perhaps the only thing I liked about the looks of the negligently designed platformer was its levels. There's a whole myriad of them including:

• Russia with the snow-clad Kremlin.
• A parallel dimension where navy ships are to be found only.
• A city with outlandishly futuristic architecture etc.

The sound design is an apogee of sluggishness though. The voice acting is done by one guy who didn't even try to convey any emotions and the sound effects were obviously found on a free stock audio site.

Gameplay: 4.5

No Time to Tell almost has no back-story. The game begins with your hero performing a sexy hip swing. Suddenly an identical copy of him jumps out of a burst of light. It's the same guy, only coming from the future! There's no time to explain WTH is happening, they must run. And then a colossal crab kidnaps your time-travelling twin.

What you're expected to do is to grab the anti-gravity laser gun and travel from one vortex to another. And your way lies through countless dimensions and worlds...

To be honest, the anti-gravity gun is a witch, meaning at times it's difficult to control. It lacks any precision whatsoever. It's like holding a garden hose with an intensely pressurized stream. Naturally, it provides a lot of trouble when landing on a right platform, but thankfully your lives are limitless. A couple of times you'll have to put the miracle laser-gun off and do bouncing off the walls to complete a level. And of course, there will be boss fights!

Each boss is loony, yet intimidating character - for instance, a giant screwball squid from the Navy universe. And while fighting them you'll get to use the laser-gun as a weapon. Which is a bloodthirstily delightful fun. But your lives will be limited during these combats.

Controls: 3.0

Controls would be okish if it wasn't for the anti-gravitation gun being so imprecise. Sometimes you risk getting stuck in a level for a couple of replays. But don't fret: practice will make you overcome this imperfection.

Replay Value: 1.0

I sincerely liked the inventive gameplay, regarding the laser-gun idea. But I loathed the raw graphics, uneatable cut-scenes, and problematic controls. I won't play this again.

Conclusion

No Time to Tell deserves a sequel - more polished and perfected.There's a lot to squeeze out of the anti-gravity gun gimmick. And a more elaborate plotline along with improved graphics will make it truly a gamer's feast. But so far it's barely digestible.