Grade: B
2D platform action game of square vs. triangle combat.
I started playing “David” for no reason other than it carried my namesake. It’s not a bad strategy for a video game to use a common name to garner interest. David used to be the hottest name on the market in the USA back in the 50s through 80s. But now, Liam is coming on strong as the most popular name, and David is on its way out.
Source: https://www.behindthename.com/name/david/top/united-states?compare=Liam&type=percent
I doubt that the loss of David’s market share as a name inspired this game’s creation and release in 2014, but you never know.
Back to the game review…
Name popularity ratio rabbit hole aside, what I found in the 2014 game “David” was a 2D action challenge game. There is an unforgiving dark souls level difficulty where you’re fighting against various triangular beasts in different arenas. Themed with squares vs. triangles, David leans into the top rivalry in all geometric existence. Sharks vs. Jets holds nothing on this feud. There are a few circles here and there that support our square hero. There are also a few traitorous uneven rectangles that make an appearance too. Squares and triangles are the main event in this universe.
At the beginning…
You start the game seeing evil develop, but there’s a hero, and their name is…David.
As you go through the intro material, you learn you have some support. There’s a bunch of little circles that empower you to slow time and fire the colorful circles at your enemies. You can also move like you’re in the void of space and inertia builds quickly. David works well enough with mouse and keyboard, but the controls are clearly meant for mobile.
After the intro, you’re dropped into a “pick your poison” kind of screen where you can adventure forth towards whatever challenge seems interesting.
Triangle monsters Galore
Triangles in “David” form into angry beasts with a lot of pent-up angst that furiously attacks our square protagonist. However, David is not without its defenses, and you can fly around pretty smoothly, and you also have your slow time ability to make matrix-like dodge moves.
I was impressed by the creativity of this game and got through all of the levels on normal difficulty. For instance, the “Flood” challenge is where you have to make your way through a maze while treacherous quadrilaterals rain down from above. You have to slow down, stop time, and fire your square cannon at the rain while moving towards the top.
Gets hard…really hard…
To get to the end game, you need to double-beat all the levels on aggravated challenge level, which I wasn’t skilled enough for. The second pass through the levels at the greater difficulty included a no-hit challenge. One hit, and you’re dead. That didn’t seem fair against monstrous triangle beasts, though maybe it would have been more manageable on mobile.
As a bonus, there’s also an arena mode you can do for a more rogue-lite experience to level up and fight different versions of triangles in ever-expanding complexity.
Overall, I enjoyed my hour or two playing through “David.” It’s a unique game set in a strange universe and a hyper-focus on basic geometry.