Thought I'd throw a couple Drawn to Life screen caps into the "Eod" header for today. There's another screen cap halfway through the article as well. Now I have to head to bed, even though I want to stay up and play! Catch you guys in a few hours, have a great morning!

I've been waiting for Drawn to Life to hit store shelves for a long time now. From the first mention of being able to draw your own main character, I was already hooked. This is an idea I had for a DS game when the DS was first announced. I was really surprised to see that it took someone this long to truly try out the idea. Pac-Pix sort of toyed with the idea, but Drawn to Life is really the first title to base a game around it. Putting that kind of freedom into the players' hands is something we have never done before. Some games allow us to create custom characters, but we have to work with preset assets. While those elements definitely have their charm, it is far from what Drawn to Life offers. I sat down very early this morning to try out the game. I've put a few hours in so far, and I am not surprised that I'm having a hard time putting the game down.

Perhaps I should talk about the other elements of the game before I get into the drawing aspects. At its heart, Drawn to Life is a platformer. You'll deal with a hub town area, but most of the true gameplay takes place in side-scrolling levels. You'll be running, jumping, and ground-pounding your way through various locations. You can also gain new abilities for your character by collecting special medallions hidden within levels. Actually, you'll be collecting a lot of things as you make your way through the game.

To make a long story short, your character's job is to collect pages from a book that has the power to restore a town that has nearly faded away. I don't want to ruin all of the story for you, since it is actually pretty charming. It's not an epic by any means, but it is an engaging, albeit younger-skewed adventure. As you guys know, I can always appreciate a game no matter what the age it is aimed at. Getting back to the pages, you'll find 4 of them scattered in each level. These levels aren't simple left to right scrolling designs, there is a lot of exploration that has to be done. On top of collecting book pages, you can hunt down townsfolk in each location. Finally, there are secret areas to hunt out as well, and the game will keep tally of how many you found in each level.

To be honest, there really isn't anything in the in the platforming elements that is outstanding (so far). It's not bad by any means, it's just standard. If Drawn to Life didn't have any drawing elements and was just focused on the platforming, you wouldn't see it as anything special. The drawing really is the key to the game, and this element is so good that it makes the rest of the game fantastic. It makes continuing on your journey extremely exciting, and a constant joy to watch and play.

Drawn to Life will constantly have you scribbling away while you play. I haven't hit a level yet where I didn't need to use the stylus. It really is exciting going through a level, waiting to see what you will have to draw next. The first real design you will get to draw is your main character. There are templates for you to use to get a better idea of how to approach a character. If you don't want to follow a template, you can go all out on your own. Basically, if you can draw it, it can be your main character. I scrolled through the templates, and there were some very unique ideas in there. They really show you just how versatile the game is.

The main character drawing is separated into body portions. You have a portion for the head, torso, legs, and arms. The legs and arms also have joints which you can use to better understand the animation. While you draw your character, you can see a real time animated preview on the top screen. This really helps you to fine-tune your work. You have a bunch of colors to choose from, and an extremely helpful zoom feature to make tiny stylus strokes work much better. If you are an artist, you can create some truly amazing stuff here. I can't wait to see what people start to make!

That's not the only thing you'll be drawing though. So far I have had to draw platforms to jump on, clouds, slime, springs, a snow blaster, sprouts, and more. Now just because they tell you what you have to draw doesn't mean you have to keep it in that category. If they tell you to draw a cloud to ride, you don't have to draw a cloud. For instance, I drew a snake and a magic carpet. Later on instead of drawing a large spring, I drew a bed to bounce off of. As I get further into the game, I find myself experimenting a lot more with my drawings. The best part is that you can always go back and edit your ideas. If you want to change your cloud into a flying car, you can do it easily.

I am telling you, I can't get enough of seeing my creations strewn about levels. It's just plain cool to control a character that you created, and progress through a level using props that you drew. It makes the platforming that much more fun. I'm always waiting to see what artistic challenge is around the next corner. You can seriously waste hours on end on the drawing screen. I spent nearly a half hour on my last drawing, perfecting it as much as I could with my poor art skills. I am actually pretty damn proud of the final product, but unfortunately it is too vulgar to take a screenshot of!

If I have one gripe with the game so far, it actually has to do with the drawing. There are some portions of the game where instead of drawing a set piece, you have to color one. For instance, there will be a submarine that you get to color before you hop in. That's great and all, but it just doesn't measure up to being able to draw your own creations. I understand that there are certain limitations when it comes to what has to be created by the developers, but it still hurts. I don't doubt that more freedom could be given if there were a sequel to come around. If anything, these coloring portions are a testament to how much fun the drawing portions are.

So far, Drawn to Life oozes with charm. It also can be easily appreciated by anyone that enjoys interactivity. There are new ideas at work here that you haven't seen in a game before. This really is giving an old game genre a completely new feeling. I can't wait to see what other creations I get to try my hand at as I make it deeper into the game. So far, I'd say Drawn to Life was definitely worth the wait.