by Jaime Skelton

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: September 21, 2011

As BrainPipe began, and my eyes settled on my game surroundings, I asked myself one question: "What in the world is this?" Before I knew it, I had begun down the pipe to inhumanity, carried by a stream of consciousness rarely seen before.

BrainPipe is a game of "spatial navigation." Think of it as an inter-dimensional racing game, inside a tube track, with no other racers. The track of BrainPipe is an obstacle course; your car is an "eye." In order to progress through the game, you must navigate the iris of the eye through the course, dodging and passing through various obstacles while collecting fragments of glyphs.

The controls of the game are simple: move your mouse to steer the iris of the eye through the BrainPipe. Pressing the left mouse button momentarily slows your speed, allowing you to see and navigate obstacles better, as well as regenerate your "eye." The game can also be controlled with a joystick, if you happen to have one. There are no special power-ups or other secret commands: just sit and steer. The game begins slowly, introducing you to the basic obstacles spinning orbs, flaming orbs, and projecting spikes and gradually speeds up to test your navigational skills.

The real treat of BrainPipe is the visual experience. Comparable to a screensaver, the game is reminiscent of the tie-dye days of the 60's and 70's. Colorful blobs of light play around your field of vision, swirling around the edges of the pipeline you travel down. Stare at it long enough and you might actually feel as though you're moving.

Meanwhile, the music alternates between a calm, sleepy ambiance and a frantic beat. Once in a while, you may hear odd noises, like arcade pings and pongs, or even voices (or perhaps the game just makes you think you're hearing voices.) And even while the intensity of the audio-visual experience increases as you progress past Awareness and Confusion, BrainPipe seems to lack the "needles along the spine" feeling that it could have.

With simple game play and a treat for the senses, BrainPipe is clearly a game that can be replayed. However, the game also lacks the kind of depth that less casual gamers are looking for; BrainPipe is more of a high-score challenge game that's easy on the eyes and brain. When you do play BrainPipe, just be warned: the game isn't subtitled "A Plunge To Unhumanity" without reason. You might be purchasing a one-way ticket.

Rating: 4/5

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