App=MC2?
Osmos for iPhone
Rating: 
Not since an apple fell on Isaac Newton’s head has science been so entertaining. Ten years ago AI (artificial intelligence) in games was sometimes so poor that you could run amok in a game while the computer characters smashed themselves repeatedly into a wall or shot themselves in the face. Now we have games where you genuinely feel that the computer is thinking.
Originally an iPad app, Hemisphere’s Osmos has now been converted for the iPhone, with awesome results. Ostensibly it’s a game about amoebic dominance but peel away the layers and you’re shown the perfect simulation of Newton’s three laws of motion.
You play a shimmering baby blue blob floating in some sort of anti-gravitational space area. There is ambient music playing (the intro screen rightly advises you to wear headphones) and various other blobs made of similar tissue and antimatter and stuff floating around you. To win most levels you have to make yourself bigger than all the other blobs by propelling yourself towards and assimilating them. But beware – unless you are bigger than them they will absorb you, and game over. It’s a case of the rich getting richer, a morally troubling but accurate analogy (sample mission brief: ‘Become huge’). Some of the other blobs are pretty tasty in the old Alpha stakes too; from the nouveau-riche gluttony of mindless Motes to the arch-duke-on-a-big-game-hunt style of the ferocious Feraxes.
So the basis of Osmos is simple, but it’s quite tricky to master, especially in the planetary orbit levels where a small mistake can mean instant oblivion. Luckily there’s an excellent tutorial and subtle hints along the way to gently explain the finer points of gameplay. Everything is presented to you in the manner of a well-earned chill-out album.
Before I forget, the graphics are quite something. Zoom in as far as you need and your avatar just gets crispier. When you speed up and slow down time for precision/aggressive manoeuvres, the music changes accordingly.
This is a beautiful game and, if you’re an iPhone owner, a great way to spend 179 pence.
