Freeze! 2 – Brothers

Won’t get the gears turning

An iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope can create interactions that are both novel and meaningful. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t take advantage of them, instead creating a jarring disconnect between player input and the action on screen.

The challenge is not figuring out what to do, but how to do it. The brothers are two sentient cogs trapped in a series of deadly mazes filled with fetid liquid, spikes and laser beams. The mazes shudder and jerk at your touch, and the freezing mechanic is awkward. It never feels natural, and it’s not much fun. It’s like playing Super Monkey Ball using a broken touch panel stuck to a black and white TV.

From the pointless story to the punitive level design, Freeze 2! is a strange and unsettling game, but perhaps not in the way the developers intended. Alan Williamson Freeze! 2 is an awkward, irksome and surprisingly soulless reaction puzzler.