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It’s 3am & I’m still playing Machinarium.

Posted by :Scribble On : February 29, 2012
2

Category: Action/Adventure, Indie Gaming, Point and Click, Puzzle, Reviews

Set in a lovingly hand painted mechanical city, Amanita Design’s point-and-click-style adventure boasts a stunning array of scenes for you to indulge and drool over. Each frame allowing you to interact with seemingly unconnected objects which, when combined in the correct sequence of events, allows you to progress forward.

Your robot hero, Josef (named after Josef ÄŒapek) must travel through the outs and innards of a rusted city. Armed only with the ability to consume and regurgitate useful gubbins at will and extend or contract his body to reach objects and switches at different heights. The goal to is to combine all manner of resources to open ways to the next frame as well as to solve classic arcade style puzzles. Along your urban adventure you’ll meet a plethora of amazingly designed characters, each robot unique and all play a small part. Some you’ll aid by running errands and others you’ll thwart with cunning puzzle mastery.

Starting out in the game, you’ll have a simple introduction in how to interact with the world around you. If you can reach it, and it’s of importance, then pick it up or fiddle with it. No matter how seemingly useless that stick is or why you have to make that large extractor fan angry.. Just do it.. I didn’t find a single item or interaction pointless after discovering its use. And it’s all very entertaining watching everything fall into place, this game is filled with individual animations for everything Josef has to work with.

The games intriguing approach to story telling relies only on thought bubbles, there’s no pretending that these robots have any kind of limited facial expressions or ability to talk conventionally. But nevertheless, this unique take on story telling allows for a charming and simple way of conveying the plot. And the visuals more than make up for holding your interest. After all, what could be more simple or fulfilling than a robot struggling to save his kidnapped lady-bot and defuse a bomb strapped to the highest spire in the city. A timeless cliché that doesn’t diminish the games charisma or distract from the feeling of accomplishment on completing each puzzle.

The game’s inbuilt walkthrough feature is something I’ve not come across before. A locked book icon in the top right hand corner of the screen links you to a frustratingly slow and merciless mini-game in which you have to manoeuvre a key to shoot spiders and avoid crashing into bricks. Hitting either will force you to start again or give up. But once completed, the book yields the the steps you have to take to move forward. With the game’s curious style of puzzles this book can be a saviour if endured. There were a few times at 3am when my feeble mind couldn’t handle the complexity of navigating different sized lines or squares through mazes. And so turning to the book helped ease the progression and flow of the game somewhat. As menial as this feature is, it forces you to really think weather you need the extra help or not. Which is a step up from games like ‘The Secret of Monkey Island’s Help Button. But to be fair if you can complete that game without that button chances are you’re not very well equipped to deal with how banal the world really is.. As a bonus, when you unlock the book you get a lovely hand drawn step by step guide to what you need to do in the particular frame you’re in. Be warned though, if what you need to do isn’t in the frame your standing in, you’ll have to move on and start the mini game again in a different location.

My only real gripe with the game is how slow Josef walks from place to place. But that stems from years of playing fast paced hack and slash games, where if it’s not dead in two minutes you’ll be eaten alive.. But give this game some patience and you won’t be disappointed..

Developed over three years on a shoe-string budget of $1000, this game has been built with the care and attention of some astonishing people. To sum up, Machinarium is gorgeous. It’s delicious for your eyes, and a puzzling treat for your brain. Go play it!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/40700/

GFG

~Scribble

Well I meant to die there…..Chapter 1: Setting the Scene

Posted by :Denandox8 On : February 28, 2012
0

Category: Action/Adventure, PS3, Reviews, Well I meant to die there

Okay, I admit it. I’m, what the French have termed, a noob.

Its been almost five years since I’ve completed a game on the PS2 (anyone remember that console?). I’m not sure exactly when I fell out in love with gaming and we amicably seperated with the PS3 taking my dignity and half my money. Maybe it was the pressures of university and being drunk through most of it. Maybe it was the harrowing depression that comes with dealing with the jobcentre. Maybe Uri Gellar did some form of mind control over me and I spent my time chasing squrriels in the park. Nethertheless, my gaming career appeared to be dead and buried.

Until the first week of February 2012, the last Button Mash event. While kindly making up the numbers in a stellar re-enactment of timeless classic “The Power of Love”, by Huey Lewis and the News, I managed to score O% on the guitar. No, thats not a mistype. A big fat zero, or for the eurovision fans amongst us, nil point. The taunting was merciless. And quite like Pop-Eye before me ” I had all I could stands, And I cant stands no more”. So naturally I grabbed a can of spinach and squeezed with all my might. After 2 hours and a bruised ego, I dropped the can and made the decision to dust off my PS3 and get back into gaming.

So, this is essentially the sit. Every week, a mystical being (known as Roberto), will pick out a game for me to try out each week and I’ll feedback to you on my progress. It wont always be pretty, hell the weeks I get shooters will be bloody depressing, but if you’re a first time gamer looking for new games to try, or a seasoned veteran who wants to laugh at the shortcomings of others, this will be an essential read.

So my starting point this the blog was a release from around 3 years ago, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Those in the know about gaming will recall the series is on its third game, and I have been informed I will review the next two in the series at some stage. The premise of this game is pretty simple. Drake is a treasure hunter, looking for a golden idol in El Dorrado. Along the way he faces hardship, mercenaries, cliffs and generally anything one might expect in games in this genre.

For me, the game was a good starting point in my development. The controls were pretty simple for a newbie to pick up and start playing immediately, thanks in part to the very easy level offered at the start. Okay sure, the dialogue is lifted from Indiana Jones and there are a few glitches in the gameplay (at one point, my accomplist decided to float over the edge of a cliff, when I tried I plummeted to my death), but the story is solid and doesnt require to much thought or investment to get into. As a matter of fact, I actually completed this game within the week, and trust me you wont be seeing that sentence crop up too many times.

The only real issue I had with the game was its decision to change the plot and genre of the game at the end. In one of those genius plot twists Hollywood tend to love, the game suddenly changed into a fight against zombies. Granted, its no aliens in Indina Jones but still quite the shock for a guy expecting something akin to Tomb Raider. Unless there were zombies in an obscure Tomb Raider I dont know of, and if that’s the case I humbly apologise. As the game essentially became a shooter, my television was subjected to the phrase “oh (insert relevant swear word here) many times. Now it didnt ruin the game for me, but if you’re gonna give this a try brace yourselves.

Ultimately then, Uncharted is a decent place to start for a non-gamer. Its not too taxing for a first timer, has a pretty good story, quick and easy to master the controls and will give you a few hours of enjoyment. Thankfully my journey to rewin gaming’s love has gotten off to a decent start. Granted we’re not at full blown reconcillation stage yet, but I’m excited to pick up the control pad again, and that’s not a bad thing.

TTFN

Thackx8