Once again a relic that's been in my backlog has made it's way forward after years in the dark, presenting something rather unique compared to my usual fair of game to try. But the intrigue of what was in here kept my attention when the dice called it forward. And I can't say it was a bad call. This is what for me would be a very comfy game, and I'm glad I got a few hours with it. If you are like me and enjoy a little bit of technical tinkering, you might just think so too...
Story: Your job is both one of the most exciting and one of the most mundane, depending on how you look at it. No you don't go out and explore ancient cities, but you get a great view of them from where you are as they send you the relics they find to investigate. And considering these artifacts are extra terrestrial in nature, it's always something new and exciting (and even on occasion a little bit dangerous). But this time, your job is a bit different.
Under normal circumstances, you would be given all available information about the objects you look at including where they come from, what the initial belief of the relative roll it might fill, and anything found on the field. Not only have you gotten none of this (in fact most of it was blacked out top-secret records style), but normally you are allowed to proceed at your own pace. These machines you are looking at today seem to have a lot more urgency around them. But you still have a job to do, and these devices just might have their own tail to tell you. Can you find it?
This basic premise, while a solid base to put you in your workshop, never really develops beyond this point, at least not for you. Some of the devices will rather blatantly push a story about where they were when they were found and it will be tantalizing to try to figure out just what happened to bring them to your door, but you will never get the full picture, much like real artifacts of ancient civilizations offer hints more then full pictures. It actually works in this game's favor, but I can't call it all great... this is one of those games that ends with a "too be continued" rather then complete a story. It's a cardinal sin of story writing to assume your plot will have a second part to finish it, and one I am incredibly tired of seeing, but I can't hold it too much against a game that really doesn't rely on the story at all, using it instead as a setting more then anything. It's not good writing, but in this case, it's easily ignorable for the real meat of the game.
4/10
Graphics: Simply put, this is an absolutely gorgeous game. You will spend it in a handful or rooms, but every detail possible has been considered, making for a very photo-realistic look that a lot of AAA games would be jealous to show off.
Most of the time, however, you will be looking at either your workbench and whatever machine you have on it or potentially a display piece in the museum itself, your view always forced to focus on the object the game is currently centered on. Those machines carry the same level of detail as the rooms your work places you in, however, supplying detail that you would not expect from anything with these system requirements!
There isn't much I can say for the cast of characters because there are none, and that begins to hint how they did it. This is one of those games that's more about how good what is here looks by actually rendering exceptionally few things. The effect is great, however, as it works in favor of the game, much like letting the plot take a back seat for the most part.
9/10
Sound: Like so much of this game, the sound department is an example of doing so much more then most other titles manage with so much less. There is almost no music in this game at all, letting the ambiance of an empty workshop be accompanied by the whirring, creaking and general mechanical sounds of what you are working on set the atmosphere. And that atmosphere is never tense, so much as scrutinizing. You are here to take apart, investigate, and assemble the various alien machines so that they can be in working order, and you have a quiet studious place to do just that. It makes for a quiet and fairly calm environment that is just primed for the puzzle solving you will do.
The few times there is music , it's generally as you finish a chapter, and its more of a calm tone to say "job well done" then anything else. Honestly I could have done without it, but it doesn't take anything away either so much as put a pacing to what you are playing.
Overall this is not a game that will entice your ears so much as simulate the world you are in, and while nothing special in it's own, is perfect for what the devs have created here.
6/10
Gameplay: This is actually the strongest point of this title and the reason you will keep playing. You will play through 9 chapters, each featuring a single machine you will have to look over and figure out the workings of. This process will involve toying with their various moving parts and using the various tools offered to you to do things like replicate parts for repairs or look under the surface to see what it's doing when you press buttons. Nothing here is particularly difficult (in fact most of these puzzles I found VERY easy to solve), but it does offer a whole different kind of exploration then you normally get when you sit down to play a game.
I found the results both interesting enough to engage and riddle out just what kind of machines I was working on, as well as a "comfy" game where there is no urgency in play. Just curiosity combined with some light brainwork to relax and enjoy as I twisted nobs or pushed buttons.
And that is probably the one thing this game does to really stand out against puzzle games of this nature. You will manipulate these parts via mouse movements like you might when working with the environment in modern horror games. In fact I could draw a direct comparison with how you complete puzzles to how you interreact with the world in the Amnesia and SOMA games: it's like someone realized this kind of system would be great for a physical puzzle game and ran with the idea. And I like the results.
Overall, this is the kind of game to chill out with your favorite warm beverage and just enjoy your time tinkering with.
8/10
Bugs: Sadly, this is not a game I can claim ran perfectly. It did very well, but I hit two specific bugs that required me to quit to the main menu to resolve. Fortunately the game's "resume" feature is VERY forgiving so I never lost much (if any) progress, but these things can happen so I have to note them.
- My tools never came back: This happened exactly once, but when trying to drag a utility to the part I wanted to use it on, I let go of the mouse by mistake and when it should and normally would have just snapped back to it's place on the UI, it instead just stuck where it was on the screen: transparent and unclickable. Since you need these tools to complete any given artifact investigation, this meant my session was over. I had to quit and reload.
- The camera location broke: This also happened exactly once on the final puzzle of the game, breaking the puzzle. Basically this puzzle involves interacting with holographic planets, clicking on them to zoom in for this purpose. The problem is that for one specific planet, it stopped zooming on it as planned, but whipping around to the opposite side of the ring it's on, making it impossible to proceed. Again, leaving and coming back fixed this so I could finish the puzzle.
Digital Rights Management: The only places you will run into DRM for this game are if you buy this on Mac OS or on Epic's launcher. In both cases, the game will use the store as DRM. Buy it anywhere else and you will have a DRM free copy... most likely a copy you need to download through Steam, but then does not need the launcher in any way. Gog, of course, is DRM free.
Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: While I certainly can not claim I enjoyed the plot of this game, this is one of those times where it it could be set aside for the experience itself, and there this game shines! If you are a tinkering sort, you will likely find a lot to love here, and I would recommend giving it an afternoon or two relax with. However if you have no interest in puzzles, I don't know what you are doing here. From the word go, it's obviously not a game for you.
8/10
System Requirements:
- Any dual core CPU running at 2 Ghz or higher
- 3 GB RAM
- IAny video card with at least 512 MB of VRAM
- Windows 7
- 2 GB Hard Drive space
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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