ilomilo (Xbox 360)

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Description

ilomilo is a puzzle game where players need to unite two characters, ilo and milo, of the Safka race, to complete levels. They start on separate sides of areas and need to work together to reach each other. Players can switch between the two characters, but only one can be active at any time. Levels are set on constructions built up out of blocks, floating in space. The characters need to manipulate the blocks to create passages and reach each other. The camera can be controlled freely. On certain blocks the characters are able to walk on the edges through carpets, which allows them to reach the sides or the bottom of blocks, turning walls into floors, while the camera then corrects the perspective. The characters can pick up cubes to move them, and there are many types with different effects. Some provide bridges, other make them fall through, or they extend across gaps. In most cases the actions of one character allows the other one to advance.

The game is envisioned as an allegory through these two characters. They meet in a bizarre park each day, but when night falls and they return the next day, the park becomes more complicated to navigate, much to their frustration. The different chapters represent the solutions they search for this. In one, they become so upset at the thought of never seeing each other again, that they cry, causing all levels in that chapter to be played underwater. In another one they decide to draw maps for each other, but somehow that makes it even harder to navigate. Eventually they will search a way to thwart the night that forces the separation and stay together forever. The real story behind the allegory is revealed by collecting memories. They fill up a device and gradually the real characters Ilona Zevon and Milton Foley, and their story, are revealed. A second plot is developed through the character Sebastian, as a fable of a fox, a huntsman and his fiancé. The three parts of the story each have a different graphical style.

Levels also include other Safkas. When every Safka of a specific colour is rescued in a single chapter, a bonus puzzle is unlocked and this leads to the revelation of the second plot. Chapters are divided into a path of puzzles. By completing a puzzle the connected levels are unlocked until the entire chapter has been completed. The characters can also collect pictures and records, which are stored in a separate gallery. The game supports cooperative multiplayer where two players each control a character. The game is then played in turns, but the passive player can point out important parts of the level or draw attention to objects. This is achieved through two little helpers: oli and moli.

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User Reviews

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The Press Says

Xboxdynasty (XD)	Jan 04, 2011	9 out of 10	90
4Players.de	Jan 12, 2011	82 out of 100	82
Thunderbolt Games	Jan 08, 2011	8 out of 10	80
Level	Feb, 2011	8 out of 10	80
Indie Game Magazine	May 16, 2011	75 out of 100	75

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Trivia

Cross-Over Content

ilomilo was one of the three games launched in the XBLA 2010 Games for the Holidays series. Players were rewarded for buying ilomilo along with the two other games, A World of Keflings and Raskulls, by bringing the important characters across the three games when they are detected on the hard disk.

References

Some characters in the levels unlocked through the purple Safka come from independent games. They are:

• Josef (Machinarium)
• Meat Boy (Super Meat Boy)
• The Goo Balls (World of Goo)
• Victor Neff (The Dream Machine)

Related Web Sites

• ilomilo.com (official game website)