GolgoHypeMachine – FEZ

Fez is a fresh take on a classic 2D platfomer that allows players to rotate the world around them to find new areas and solve puzzles. Developed by Polytron Corporation, Fez features retro-inspired graphics, a wonderfully composed soundtrack, and gameplay somewhere between Super Paper Mario and Echochrome. This little beauty has had my interest since it was debuted as a proof-of-concept video over three years ago.

What separates Fez from Super Paper Mario is that while the world rotates, the gameplay stays strictly 2D. Rotating the environment serves to show you places you can go and platforms you might not be able to reach from other angles. For those at all curious about the design process, Polytron has a pretty interesting article on their site explaining “trixels“, or 3D cubes representing 2D pixels. The music in the game is quite captivating, and is all composed in-house by the same team developing it.

I can’t wait for Fez to (finally) make it’s way to my grubby paws. Great 2D platformers have been a little scarce in the past few years and to hear Polytron talk about the care they’re taking to make the game perfect gives me a lot of hope.

Fez is slated for Fall 2011 and is currently only announced for XBLA.