At the heart of Technicartist’s CatTaTa there’s a genuinely touching tale of unrequited love; that it concerns a charismatic moggy and the object of his desire, a sultry siamese with a red ribbon tied around her tail, renders it no less affecting, but does give the developer the pretext to include all sorts of action-packed scenarios.
The game features plenty of crawling across rooftops and chase sequences, but before you start thinking this is some sort of feline themed Mirror’s Edge, be warned that instead of precision timed jumps and white-knuckle thrills, CatTaTa opts for a more novel approach.
Making wonderful use of the accelerometer for its tilt controlled gameplay, the sole object is to keep the camera constantly focused on the ensuing action. This task steadily becomes more difficult as the story progresses, as sometimes you must keep track of dual focuses, such as a cat being chased by a dog.
At the end of each level points are rewarded for snapshots that are taken during play; if they’re of a high enough standard, you progress to the next stage. Simple, yet fun!
The charming central story is what truly allows CatTaTa to stand out from the crowd. And I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say, the subtle way in which it unfurls put me in mind of the critically lauded Spider: Secret of Bryce Manor, in that you never directly influence events, but instead are merely lucky enough to be along for the beautiful ride.
The game’s simplistic, crude even, graphical style (watercolors that are more gorgeous in motion) is perfectly suited to this unusual and utterly unique adventure; while the soundtrack, a mingling of melodic piano pieces and foot tapping acoustic guitar riffs, deserves a special mention also.
My one criticism of the game is in fact a backwards compliment: the main tale is too short! While a Freeplay mode does offer a selection of enjoyable standalone adventures set in TaTa’s world, overall, the title’s play time is disappointingly brief. That said, this is the kind of game you’ll most likely return to time and time again.
iFanzine Verdict: A purrfect game for all the family, with a heartwarming story, beautiful graphics and challenging gameplay.
8 out of 10