Skip to main content

Tetris Effect Looks Stunning On PC

Tetris Effect blends the world of visionary studio Enhance with the time-tested, near-perfect rules of Tetris for a euphoric sensory experience. I reviewed it last year for the PlayStation 4, and today, it’s finally out on PC. With enhanced visuals, it looks better than ever. Check out the video to see it for yourself on high-graphics settings.

Tetris Effect is already a gorgeous spectacle to dive into on the PS4, especially on a 4K-resolution display with HDR enabled. And if you own a PlayStation VR headset, the optional virtual reality mode turns this game into an entirely different experience. It’s one thing to play it on a 4K TV; it’s another to play it in VR and see snowflakes swirl and dance around you on a gorgeous mountain peak under the setting sun.

I got a chance to interview Enhance’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Mark MacDonald about the long journey to Tetris Effect.

The PC version features support for both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. In regular 2D mode, you can crank those particle effects up and even unlock the frame rate on your monitor if you disable V-Sync. I played it in native 4K resolution with all of the settings on high, and I began to notice things I hadn’t previously paid attention to, like how detailed the lily pads floating in the water are. It really does feel like the PC version gets to go wild on performance.

Tetris Effect plays on the PC just like it does on the PS4, which is fantastic news. You can even play with whatever gamepad you want, including options for mouse and keyboard and the controllers for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. I personally love to play with my white Hori Mini Wired Gamepad for PS4. It’s got the perfect D-pad, and the shoulder buttons are easy to press to quickly hold blocks.

I picked up this white wired Hori Mini Gamepad on my last trip to Tokyo and it’s perfect for Tetris.Photo: Paul Tamayo

Advertisement

In addition to the graphical flourishes, the PC version also brings a few Effect Mode changes into the mix. Relax Mode’s Chill Marathon and Quick Play now let you set a limit for lines of up to 600 total, up from the PS4’s total of 150, so you can zone out to your favorite level for an extended session. Quick Play also has a “Constant Speed Level” option for those who want to set a really difficult speed and practice their Tetris Master skills without the need to gradually increase the speed. I didn’t think Tetris Effect could get any better, but I’m happy to be surprised.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Scythe Board Game Review

Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier Published by: Stonemaier Games Players: 1-5 Playtime: 90-120 Minutes Review copy supplied free of charge by Esdevium Games. You don’t gently put Scythe down on a table like a baby that must be coddled. Oh no, instead you thump it down with authority, the sizable box dominating the space and demanding that all present pay attention to its beautiful artwork! And then you open the lid revealing decks of cards, wooden pieces, plastic miniatures and a variety of tokens, as well as a substantial board and a bunch of other stuff. It’s a veritable feast of components. Despite its size and somewhat daunting visage, however, Scythe is actually quite easy to learn; every turn you choose one of four quadrants on your player board and perform one, two or none of the actions there. Simple. Well, kind of. Scythe is a 4X game – which means it wants you to explore, expand, extort and exterminate – set within a unique world that mixes agricultural farming with towerin...

Defective, Or Effective?

The first mission of Defector is like a glorious homage to every over-the-top spy movie to have ever appeared on a screen. There’s a handler feeding you information, a bad guy to converse with and then the possibility of driving a car out of a plane before leaping out and landing in a different plane. Oh, and then gunning down a bunch of fighter jets using nothing but an assault rifle because that’s how the real world works. It’s a bombastic introduction to Defector , but then the game never does manage to reach the same highs again. It’s perhaps no wonder that it was this first level which was shown off in the demos and previews. But that doesn’t mean Defector doesn’t give it a shot and does so by mixing in a bunch of different ideas. In another of the five missions you get to pose as a masseuse, gently massaging away the suspect’s worries. There’s even an interrogation sequence involving questioning, punching and dangling the target out of a window. Hell, Defector even manages to ...

Lisboa Board Game Review

Designed by: Vital Lacerda Published by: Eagle Gryphon Games Players: 1-4 Playtime: 60-120 Minutes Review copy supplied free of charge by Asmodee UK Jesus Christ, I have absolutely no idea where to even start with Lisboa, the latest table-hogging, mind-destroying eurogame from the highly respected Vital Lacerda. I’ve reviewed one game from Vital previously and utterly adored its lavish production values and stellar gameplay, but damn was it hard to review simply due to the way every mechanic tied to everything else. To explain one thing meant having to digress into about a billion other things before stumbling back to the original topic like a drunk emerging from a pub lock-in. It was confusing. Lisboa is just as complex and tricky to discuss, so please forgive me as I muddle through talking about Lacerda’s latest attempt to turn my already worryingly overheating brain into a melting pot of pink goo. The entire game is based around Lisbon, which is actually Lacerda’s hometown an...