Subway Surfers – Tunnel Vision

Here’s a hot tip for you if you’re looking to commit a crime in real life: don’t. Seriously. It’s not worth the hassle. If, though, you have disregarded our extremely stern warning and are planning to commit a crime anyway (seriously, don’t), here’s a second tip: don’t run from the police. It’ll just make matters worse, and probably constitute a second more grievous offence if you do. Just give yourself over and save yourself the trouble.

If you’re the protagonist of Subway Surfers, though, you don’t have a choice. Running from the police is really your only option, since a) you appear to live in a nightmarish world in which painting innocuous graffiti is the worst crime known to humanity, and b) you literally cannot stop yourself from running. The only way to stop running is to be caught, which is sort of a metaphor for life, if you think about it the right way.

Yes, if you haven’t already figured it out, the Subway Surfers game is an endless runner now exclusively available to play on Poki, Android, and iOS,. This game comes to us from two studios based in Denmark who have decided to partner up for the venture: SYBO Studios and Kiloo Games. Endless runners are quite plentiful, with stiff competition in the form of the almighty Temple Run, as well as entries in the very well-established Sonic the Hedgehog and Rayman franchises. Subway Surfers is going to need to work extra hard in order to build a reputation for itself in this cutthroat genre.

Fortunately, this is work that Subway Surfers seems more than happy to put in. Initial impressions are excellent; the game has a wonderful visual sensibility that put us in mind of classics like Jet Set Radio and underrated Wii gem De Blob, while the kinetic, pulsing soundtrack sets the mood perfectly for a spot of law enforcement-dodging endless runner action. It doesn’t hurt that the visuals in Subway Surfers are remarkable, with clear, detailed models and a buttery-smooth framerate to help things along.

When it comes to the action, things are perhaps a little more formulaic, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking an established formula and building on it. Subway Surfers will feel fairly familiar to anyone who’s experienced with the endless runner genre, but for those who are new to this type of game it’ll feel fresh. “Familiar” does not mean “tired”, though, and Subway Surfers’ presentation goes a very long way indeed towards making the game feel new and exciting despite its genre trappings.

To wit, Subway Surfers’ genre is endless runner, and an endless runner it very much is. As the policeman begins chasing you through endless train yards and cityscapes, your movement will be left up to the capricious whims of the game, while dodging obstacles and making sure you don’t get splatted by trains is very much your remit. To accomplish your goals, you’ll use the keyboard’s arrow keys and only the keyboard’s arrow keys. Left and right will move your character between the three available tracks (although they’re not demarcated, it’s always clear which of the three you’re on), while up will jump and down will duck.

Subway Surfers feels incredibly smooth and intuitive to play, thanks in no small part to this control scheme. Sure, it might sound simplistic, but narrowing the game’s control focus to the arrow keys is an ingenious way of streamlining gameplay and removing unnecessary chaff. What’s left is a sleek, lean and mean endless runner with no extraneous or unnecessary mechanics or gameplay elements. Everything in Subway Surfers feels like it’s meant to be there, feels like it’s contributing towards something rather than simply being tacked on for completion’s sake.

There isn’t a huge amount here besides running for your life and dodging the obstacles the game throws at you (many and varied as they are), but you’ll be assisted in your journey by powerups, which take the form of score multipliers, jetpacks and more. The hoverboard, for example, makes you immune to obstacles for thirty seconds. Obtaining one is a lot harder than you may initially think; you’ll need to work to earn your hoverboard, making maximizing each run utterly crucial if you want to make things easier on yourself later down the line.

In addition to powerups, there are a series of achievement-style challenges to complete which round out the experience and create a more engaging and varied game. These could take the form of using three powerups in a single run, for example, or reaching a certain distance without being hit. Doing so will grant you various boons, from in-game currency to unique items and other such rewards. These challenges lengthen an already theoretically infinite game, adding an extra dimension to Subway Surfers’ already extremely solid core.

In the end, whether you like Subway Surfers will of course come down to your individual preference for the endless runner genre. If you don’t like games like this, then Subway Surfers probably won’t change your mind. The presentation is engaging, the gameplay is creative and enjoyable and the challenges (and unlockable characters) are a fun novelty. Subway Surfers is, in the end, an endless runner, however, and no amount of bells and whistles will change that. Fans of the genre have found their new addiction; those without a taste for endless runner antics should apply elsewhere.