Helix: Descent N Ascent Review
Explore a gorgeous monochrome wasteland in Helix: Descent N Ascent from Badass Mongoose.
Helix: Descent N Ascent. Credit: Badass Mongoose
Helix: Descent N Ascent from Badass Mongoose pairs striking black and white visuals with carefully designed puzzles. The art caught my attention when I first saw the trailers, but the puzzles kept me invested once I started playing.
You explore the remains of a lost civilization, wandering alone through the ruins of a monochrome wasteland. Then you meet another character, identical to you, who does everything he can to block your path and keep you away. What is this strange place, and who is your mysterious doppelgänger?
As you travel through the ruins of Helix, you switch the world between positive and negative states and use the abilities you discover. You can create and manipulate blocks, trap creatures, telekinetically control a drone, and more. Those powers behave differently depending on the world’s positive or negative state; for example, your ability to trap a creature becomes the power to transform into one yourself. Solving the game’s puzzles means understanding what your abilities do in both states and how they interact with one another.
Helix: Descent N Ascent. Credit: Badass Mongoose
Helix: Descent N Ascent. Credit: Badass Mongoose
Rather than taking place in one continuous open world, you regularly return to a hub. Selecting one power or a combination of abilities teleports you to a region designed around using them together. Even knowing which powers a particular path expects you to use, the puzzle solutions aren’t immediately obvious. Choosing a different combination can send you back to a familiar area with new paths available to explore. A power may appear simple on its own, but the game quickly introduces mechanical complexity as it adds more layers with the positive and negative variations and the combinations with other abilities. I got stuck a few times and relied on walkthroughs the developers graciously provided. When I didn’t give up and figured out puzzles on my own, I felt incredibly smart.
The black and white visuals are some of the most striking I’ve seen. Sharp inkwork gives both versions of the monochrome world a rich sense of texture and detail. It feels like exploring the pages of a beautiful graphic novel. The only drawback is that the whites can be harsh when playing the game in a dark room. A “night mode” to tone down the brightness like the one in the excellent Froggy Hates Snow would have made the game much easier on the eyes.
The closest comparison I can make is to classic Zelda dungeons stripped of combat. That absence slows the pace and gives the world a stronger sense of mystery, heightened by the lack of dialogue and the game's reliance on visual storytelling. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you’ll enjoy exploring Helix as much as I did.
Helix: Descent N Ascent
Gorgeous black-and-white art gives Helix: Descent N Ascent its identity, while excellent puzzles make it worth exploring.
