Fez (video game)

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Fez
Fez cover.png
Fez cover art by Bryan Lee O'Malley.
Developer(s) Polytron Corporation
Publisher(s) Microsoft Studios
Trapdoor
Polytron
Director(s) Phil Fish
Programmer(s) Renaud Bédard
Composer(s) Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace)
Engine Trixel
Platform(s) Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Release date(s) Xbox 360
  • WW April 13, 2012[1]
Microsoft Windows
  • WW May 1, 2013
Linux
  • WW TBD
OS X
  • WW TBD
PlayStation Network
Genre(s) Puzzle/Platformer
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution Online distribution

Fez is a puzzle/platform game developed by independent software developers Polytron Corporation. The game was initially announced by its creator, Phil Fish, on TIGSource.com on July 17, 2007.[3] It was later announced that the game would come to the Xbox Live Arcade in early 2010, but it was pushed back.[4] The game was released on April 13, 2012, for Xbox Live Arcade.[1] A Microsoft Windows version became available on Steam and GOG.com on May 1, 2013,[5] OS X and Linux versions are currently[when?] being developed by Ethan Lee.[6][7] Phil Fish and the later stages of development of Fez were featured in Indie Game: The Movie.

Plot[edit source | edit]

The plot of Fez revolves around Gomez, a two-dimensional creature who lives in a flat, 2D world. One day, Gomez encounters a strange and mysterious artifact called the Hexahedron, which gives him a magical fez hat that allows him to perceive a third dimension. Just as Gomez begins to explore his new ability, the Hexahedron suddenly fractures and explodes, causing the world around him to glitch up and freeze.

The game "reboots" and Gomez wakes up to find that he can now explore his world in three dimensions. A floating hypercube explains that he must collect the fragments of the Hexahedron, which have been scattered across the world, before the world is torn apart.

Gameplay[edit source | edit]

A level shown before rotation, during rotation, and after rotation

The goal of Fez is to collect 32 cubes,[8] which have been scattered around the world, to rebuild the Hexahedron and restore Gomez's world before it is torn apart. Cubes and cube fragments are visible and can be collected by simply moving over them. Players can also collect 32 "anti-cubes"[8] by solving various puzzles, many of which require some form of cryptanalysis. As the player collects cubes and anti-cubes, doors become unlocked and allow the player to access new areas.

Fez is presented as a 2D platform game in which Gomez can walk, jump, climb and manipulate objects. However, the player can shift perspectives at any time, rotating the world 90 degrees relative to the screen. This reveals doors and passageways and causes platforms to realign on the screen. Since depth is not a factor in the 2D gameplay, the player can (and must) take advantage of this mechanic to perform actions that would normally be impossible in a true 3D world. (For example, while standing on a floating platform, shifting the perspective 90 degrees allows Gomez to jump to another platform that had previously been on the opposite side of the screen. Rotating back to the original perspective after the jump reveals that Gomez has moved a great distance.)

Development[edit source | edit]

Concept art of a Fez level

Fez's protracted development cycle was featured in the documentary film Indie Game: The Movie.[9] It was first announced online in July 2007, and an early version was shown at the Independent Games Festival in 2008. It received high praise and thrust its creator, Phil Fish, into the limelight as an "indie developer celebrity". However, little was heard of the game for several years as Fish's company, Polytron, lost its funding and encountered legal problems, mainly due to Fish's business partner leaving the company and threatening legal action. Fish also encountered personal and family problems, and admitted that his perfectionism contributed to the game's delay, as did his loss of perspective over the game's merits and consumer demand.

Despite looming legal hurdles and technical difficulties, Polytron demonstrated the near-final version of Fez at the Penny Arcade Expo in 2011, again to near-universal praise. Fish gave several interviews (including one with Jerry Holkins of Penny-Arcade), while his new business partner (Ken Schachter) worked out a deal with the original business partner, ending the legal battle between them.

A demo of Fez was shown on 31 January 2012 at the International Game Developers Association Montreal DemoNight.[10]

Polytron later announced that Fez would be released on Xbox Live Arcade in Spring 2012.[11]

Xbox 360 patch[edit source | edit]

After the Xbox 360 release in April 2012, Polytron released a title patch two months later that fixed several bugs in the game. Although the patch had been certified through Microsoft's testing process, some players discovered that it had corrupted their save files and forced them to start over. As a result, Polytron warned players against installing the patch if they had not already done so, and Microsoft eventually pulled the patch from its service.[12]

In July of the same year, the patch was reinstated on Xbox Live without further modifications. In its announcement, Polytron explained that Microsoft had given them a choice of either fixing the save-state bug and having the patch re-certified, or placing the patch back on the service as-is. Polytron stated that the recertification process would have been prohibitively expensive (on the order of "tens of thousands" of dollars), and that it might have led to more problems that would be discovered later and require yet another patch. The developers estimated that less than one percent of players would be affected by the corruption bug, and Microsoft agreed that this percentage was too small to impact the original certification.[13] Polytron and Phil Fish have received widespread criticism for this decision.[14] Microsoft later removed the fee for title updates in April 2013,[15] and Fish has since stated that they will bring the corrected patch back to the Xbox Live version of the game.[16]

Release on other platforms[edit source | edit]

Fish stated that Fez would be ported to other platforms in 2013, though did not specify which ones.[17] It was released on Steam for Windows on May 1, 2013.[5] Fish was talking to Sony to determine a release for the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita via the PlayStation Network.[18] Fish has confirmed that there will not be a release of the game for the Nintendo 3DS.[18] Despite Fish's sudden cancellation of Fez 2 and withdraw from the gaming industry, Polytron is still developing ports of Fez to MacOS X and Linux,[19] and announced that Fez will come to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita platforms, with Crossbuy play between the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions.[20]

Cancelled sequel[edit source | edit]

Fish revealed that the sequel, Fez 2, was in development at the Horizon Indie summit, held during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 in June 2013.[21] At the time, Fish confirmed that the game would be coming to Microsoft Windows, but stated that it would not be released for the Xbox consoles, referring to his past experience with Fez on the 360 and statements by Microsoft regarding indie titles for the Xbox One. Though Fish did not confirm a PlayStation 4 release, he spoke in praise of Sony's commitment to indie developers.[22]

On July 27, 2013, Fish suddenly announced via Twitter that Fez 2 had been cancelled and that "he [was] done"; Fish later made his Twitter account private.[23] It was initially believed by gaming journalists that the cancellation followed a heated argument Fish had with Marcus Beer of GameTrailers' Annoyed Gamer segment, who had made various comments about certain indie developers like Fish and Jonathan Blow on an episode of the Invisible Walls podcast.[23] However, Fish made clear Beer's comments were not the sole reason for the cancellation, rather that Fez 2 was cancelled to "get out of games", stating that "I fucking hate this industry" due to the harsh criticism and negativity that prevails in it.[23]

Music[edit source | edit]

The soundtrack in Fez was written and produced by Rich Vreeland (also known as Disasterpeace).[24] It was released on April 20, 2012.[25] Three tracks, Adventure, Forgotten and Home, were made available for free on Bandcamp to celebrate the game's release.[26]

Fez Soundtrack track listing
No. Title Length
1. "Adventure"   3:18
2. "Puzzle"   2:14
3. "Beyond"   3:05
4. "Progress"   4:16
5. "Beacon"   2:33
6. "Flow"   3:47
7. "Formations"   2:20
8. "Legend"   1:18
9. "Compass"   2:43
10. "Forgotten"   2:34
11. "Sync"   2:19
12. "Glitch"   3:25
13. "Fear"   3:32
14. "Spirit"   2:52
15. "Nature"   4:12
16. "Knowledge"   1:49
17. "Death"   3:32
18. "Memory"   1:16
19. "Pressure"   4:00
20. "Nocturne"   2:13
21. "Age"   2:58
22. "Majesty"   3:22
23. "Continuum (an arrangement of Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 4)"   2:35
24. "Home"   1:35
25. "Reflection"   9:02
26. "Love"   1:10

Reception[edit source | edit]

 Fez
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
Metacritic 89/100 (X360)[27]
90/100 (PC)[28]
Review scores
Publication Score
Edge 9/10[29]
Eurogamer 10/10[30]
G4 4/5[31]
Game Informer 9.25/10[32]
GameSpot 8/10[33]
GameTrailers 9.0/10[34]
IGN 9.5/10[35]
Giant Bomb 4/5 stars[36]

Upon release, Fez received widespread praise, with IGN giving the game 9.5/10.[37] By June 2012 the Metacritic average was 89%.[38]

As of April 2013, Fez has sold more than 200,000 copies on Xbox Live Arcade.[39]

Awards[edit source | edit]

Fez won the "Excellence in Visual Art" award at the Independent Games Festival in 2008, where it was also nominated for the "Design Innovation" award.[40] It appeared at PAX Prime 2011 as one of the PAX 10,[41] and won two awards, Story/World Design and Grand Jury, at IndieCade in 2011.[42] It also won the "Seamus McNally Grand Prize" at the Independent Games Festival in 2012.[43]

In December 2012, Fez was declared Eurogamer's Game of the Year.[44]

References[edit source | edit]

  1. ^ a b "FEZ FRIDAY THE 13TH". Polytron Corporation. Retrieved 28 March 2012. 
  2. ^ "FEZ COMING TO PS EVERYTHING". Polytron Corporation. August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2013. 
  3. ^ fish, Phil (2 July 2009). "FEZ IS COMING TO XBOX LIVE ARCADE EARLY 2010". Polytron Corporation. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  4. ^ fish, Phil (2 July 2009). "FEZ". Polytron Corporation. Retrieved 27 February 2012. 
  5. ^ a b Fletcher, JC (2013-03-18). "Fez coming to Steam May 1". Joystiq. Retrieved 2013-03-18. 
  6. ^ "I Am Phil Fish, Co-Creator Of Fez, Ask Me Anything: Iama". En.reddit.com. 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2013-04-22. 
  7. ^ "Twitter / flibitijibibo: @faemir I am now working on FEZ for Linux.". Twitter. 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-08. 
  8. ^ a b Woods, Eric. "Fez Review". Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  9. ^ "Indie Game: The Movie". 
  10. ^ "January 31 - DemoNight!". International Game Developers Association. Retrieved 5 February 2012. 
  11. ^ Rosenberg, Adam (March 29, 2012). "Fez Release Date Announced". G4tv.com. Retrieved April 18, 2012. 
  12. ^ Sarkar, Samit (2012-06-22). "'Fez' patch out but 'kinda broken'; Polytron warns against installing it (update)". The Verge. Retrieved 2012-07-19. 
  13. ^ Griffiths, Daniels Nye (2012-07-19). "Console Confusion: Fez Patch Removed, Restored, But Not Updated". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-07-19. 
  14. ^ "Fez, Fish and The Problem with Patching". Retrieved 2012-07-24. 
  15. ^ Lin-Poole, Wesley (2013-06-28). "Microsoft no longer charges developers to patch their Xbox 360 games". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-07-05. 
  16. ^ Sterling, Jim (2013-07-05). "Dreams come true: FEZ to be patched on Xbox 360". Destructoid. Retrieved 2013-07-05. 
  17. ^ Revore, Jordan (December 31, 2012). "Fez will be ported to other platforms, says Polytron". Destructoid. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 
  18. ^ a b Matulef, Jeffrey (2013-03-18). "Fez dated for Steam in early May". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-03-18. 
  19. ^ Sarkar, Samit (2013-08-01). "Polytron producer 'kind of in shock' at Fez 2 cancellation". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-08-01. 
  20. ^ Chalk, Andy (2013-08-20). "Fez Is Coming To PlayStation". Escapist. Retrieved 2013-08-21. 
  21. ^ McElroy, Griffin (2013-06-13). "Fez 2 in development at Polytron". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-06-13. 
  22. ^ Yoon, Andrew (2013-06-20). "Fez 2 not coming to Xbox because 'Microsoft won't let' it". Shacknews. Retrieved 2013-06-20. 
  23. ^ a b c Farokhmanesh, Megan (2013-07-27). "Fez 2 canceled, Phil Fish confirms (updated)". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-07-29. 
  24. ^ "Music and Sound for Hire". Retrieved 29 July 2013. 
  25. ^ "Fez - By Disasterpeace". Retrieved 18 June 2012. 
  26. ^ Retrieved 2013-01-15.
  27. ^ "MetaCritic". 
  28. ^ "MetaCritic". 
  29. ^ "EDGE Review". 
  30. ^ "Eurogamer Review". 
  31. ^ Wishnov, Jason (2012-04-12). "Fez Review for Xbox 360". G4. Retrieved 2012-04-12. 
  32. ^ "GI Review". 
  33. ^ "GameSpot Review". 
  34. ^ "Fez - Review HD". GameTrailers.com. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012. 
  35. ^ "IGN Review". Retrieved 13 April 2012. 
  36. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (April 16, 2012). "Fez Review". Giant Bomb. Retrieved April 16, 2012. 
  37. ^ "IGN Review". Retrieved 13 April 2012. 
  38. ^ "Metacritic summary for Fez". Retrieved 9 June 2012. 
  39. ^ Phillips, Tom (15 April 2013). "Fez sells 200,000 copies in a year on Xbox Live Arcade". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 15 April 2013. 
  40. ^ "The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival - 2008 Finalists & Winners". Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  41. ^ "The PAX 10". PAX. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  42. ^ "The Official IndieCade 2011 Award Winners in All Categories". indiegamereviewer.com. October 9, 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-06. 
  43. ^ "The 14th Annual Independent Games Festival Laureates". Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 13 June 2012. 
  44. ^ "Eurogamer's Game of the Year 2012". Eurogamer. Retrieved 30 December 2012. 

External links[edit source | edit]

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