Inversion Review

Gravity holds the Earth in orbit, but it also keeps anyone who isn't an astronaut tethered to terra firma. Turns out all you need is a change of wardrobe: slide on an anti-gravity harness, and suddenly you're the star of a cover-based shooter with a gravity-defying twist.

Davis Russell was once a cop in Vanguard City; now he's an escaped slave desperate to rescue his daughter from a race of human-looking savages from parts unknown. The game lets you invite an online pal to play as your partner or team up with a chatty A.I. stooge who thinks you need a steady stream of mindless directions while bullets whizz past your head. Shoot the bad guys, right? Got it, mate, cheers.

Underground tunnels and city streets choked with destructible, chest-high debris please the eye, and the stop-and-pop gunplay will prove instantly familiar to Gears of War veterans. But the stolen Gravlink get-up on your back promises to add a new dimension to the ageing formula.

Launch a burst of Low-G energy to make enemies float out from behind cover, then use what amounts to telekinesis to launch debris at them. Getting stomped by a grenade-spamming mech? Bring it to its knees with a High-G blast, or force down some suspended heavy metal to squish it.

Zero point

Regrettably, tossing cars and forcing opponents to put on pounds sounds more exciting than it is. Common grunts lack the cunning that'd make gravity manipulation necessary, or even worthwhile. Periodic zones of zero gravity turn the world topsy-turvy, but they also rob your Gravlink of almost all practical utility.

Your journey quickly settles into an endless slog of interchangeable shootouts, broken up by little more than hold-the-door-for-me-bro tedium and boss battles that range from serviceable arena showdowns to infuriating cover-free patience-drainers.

Thankfully, online multiplayer proves more exciting, tipping the scales back into more positive territory. King of Gravity puts one Gravlink harness up for grabs in a neat twist on "kill the carrier," while Survival sends waves of more aggressive goons charging at a squad of four from all sides.

But the real highlights come courtesy of a pair of team-based modes where capturing a control point causes the entire map to flip upside-down onto a completely different set of terrain. That you can't even count on the ground to stay beneath your feet will keep your heart thumping; if only Inversion's campaign were half as energizing.