Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Rrp: £6.99
Released:20th June 2013
Available on own site, Steam & Gog.com
You play as Dax a magrunner making his way through a training facility when something goes horribly wrong. Does it sound familiar? Well don’t worry, while this game may share many similarities with Portal it does enough to keep it from feeling stale. One thing that certainly isn’t similar is the story… Cthulhu and all that.
The starting puzzles are on par with the original Portal game’s in regards to difficulty, but the game soon ramps this up. It took me a while to decide why these levels appeared to be so difficult but I think I have it. This game doesn’t do much hand holding, the designers expect you to be able to work out certain elements for yourself with very little help from them. I personally like this, it’s mentally challenging for the player and found I got a real sense of achievement when I finally figured it out.
There are plentiful checkpoints throughout the game, some even in mid level, so if you die you needn’t start from scratch.
Much like in the Portal series there are loading times between testing areas, they tend to only last two or three seconds though.
The controls are the same as Portal really, but instead of firing alternative portals you fire magnetic charges, although it does lack a crouch or a run button… Which I found a bit odd. There is however, a button you can toggle granting you the ability to see how far an objects magnetic field extends, which I found extremely useful.
I do have a small gripe about the games sensitivity or rather how exacting it requires you to be. Sometimes the difference between making a elevator work or a platform travel the correct track is a magnetic charge in the right place. That’s not the issue because that’s the nature of the game, but sometimes you have to get it on the absolutely exact spot for it to work. Games like Portal or Quantum Conundrum allow for a little flexibility in the placing of objects.
Graphically this is no next-gen game but then again nor is it attempting to be. It is by no means ugly, except where its supposed to be. I rather like the fact that the game transitions from a bright, smooth near flawless environment to a dark, rough and dangerous one. It’s also quite clever how certain logos and symbols change as you make your way through.
The voice acting though (at least in English)… Not great, not terrible, just mediocre.
A feature that I found to be a nice surprise is within the Special menu, the Hall of Fame is actually a small playable area rather than merely a list of names.
Overall, I’d say this game is worth the asking price (especially if you were one of the ones that received it free from gog.com), the difficulty of the puzzles will almost ensure that you get your money’s worth. If loved the Portal series but wished it were harder, this could very well be your game.
