Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Prism: Light the Way (DS) artwork

Prism: Light the Way (DS) review


"If you have ever taken any physics course, then at some point in time, you may have glossed over the behaviour of light. One point that stays clear is that on a flat, reflective surface, the angle that the light bounces off of is the same angle that it first struck the surface at. "

If you have ever taken any physics course, then at some point in time, you may have glossed over the behaviour of light. One point that stays clear is that on a flat, reflective surface, the angle that the light bounces off of is the same angle that it first struck the surface at.

Fortunately, the developers over at Eidos Interactive canned the physics for their light-based game, Prism: Light the Way. Instead of trying to explain the theories of such scientists as Young and Michelson, you are given a grid with a maximum size of ten by ten squares. Your purpose is to light up “Globos”, organisms that require light to survive and thrive. Because these Globos are static in their position on a grid, you have to manipulate the positions of other organisms called Bulboids that give off light by moving their position on the grid, all to the master purpose of lighting up the Globos.

However, there are many problems for the Globos. First off, the Bulboids can only point in one direction, and cannot be rotated around, meaning a Bulboid pointed up cannot supply light to a Globos in the down direction. To further complicate things, certain Globos can only be satisfied by specific colours of light – red, blue, and green – while Bulboids only give off white light.

This is where the genius of Prism: Light the Way’s design comes in. In each puzzle, you are given several objects that can manipulate light, and you have to move and rotate each and every one of them (in only a few puzzles do you have leftover pieces) to light up every Globos. Mirrors will reflect light waves at a ninety degree angle, while T-Junctions will split the light into two and send them out the two sides that are ninety degrees opposed to the way the light came in (so if the light comes from up, it is split go to left and right). Light that goes through a coloured Filter Block will turn into the colour of that block. Prism blocks take in white light and split it into blue, yellow, and red light, each exiting through one of the three remaining directions. Cycloids also change white light into coloured light, but will constantly flicker between red, yellow and blue.

Trippy.

Unfortunately, there are a few flaws to the game, if not in its design and concept itself. For one, it is fairly light on the main content; the game only has 120 puzzles, and the first 20 or so are easy filler puzzles that require only one or two modifications to the preexisting grid. A Help button exists for the first 40 puzzles that will point out a correct step you can make, but is gone after that, leaving hapless gamers stranded on the rare snag they may encounter. Five other modes exist in addition to the main game, but they are all just challenge modes (time mode, infinite mode, and so on) that recycle the main game’s 120 puzzles. There is a multiplayer mode in which two players can compete on one card to see who can solve the same puzzle first, which is decent. Secondly, while I was not expecting the graphics to be very advanced (which they are not), the use of only one soundtrack while doing the puzzles was aggravating; I just stuck to listening to my own music as opposed to the game’s.

While it is not a big or a revolutionary game, Prism: Light the Way is still a decent game. It sticks to its design well, and as a result of its simplicity, does not have any conceptual flaws, while still managing to involve some brain-wracking at times to finish a grid. It can also be had for $17 new at the time of writing, so as an acquisition it is definitely worth it.

6/10



darkstarripclaw's avatar
Community review by darkstarripclaw (May 10, 2008)

A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.

More Reviews by darkstarripclaw [+]
Papers, Please (PC) artwork
Papers, Please (PC)

Papers, Please is mercilessly satirical with its subject matter, taking place in a fictional backdrop of Second-world countries. Some of it is blatant, with the various propagandising, to the more insidious. As a Customs Inspector, you are responsible for processing several applicants a day, whether foreigners or Arsto...
Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS) artwork
Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)

While Rhythm Thief is an obvious collection of musical mini-games, the game is also part point-and-click. While going around Paris, you get treated to a decent bit of recent French history, some of it coming into play as the game's story runs itself out. Phantom R's nightly occupations, stealing unique items from museu...
Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure (Game Boy) artwork
Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure (Game Boy)

The game dumps you off in a small room, expecting you to travel through several rooms in many different possible paths until you find an elevator or teleporter that takes you to the next level. The game takes an isometric perspective, with developers Software Creations having also created the isometric Solstice ...

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Prism: Light the Way review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Prism: Light the Way is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Prism: Light the Way, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.