Quick Review - Antichamber

Game Name:    Antichamber

Developer:    Alexander Bruce
      Engine:              Unreal Engine 3

Platform:     Windows (Steam)

Genre: Puzzle, First person, Platformer

Release Date: January 31, 2013

Disclaimer: As of now, I’m about 95% through the game. I’ve solved nearly all of the puzzles, but there a few still lingering around unsolved. It’s very possible that I will never completely finish this game, but I feel I’ve progressed through enough of it to give an ample quick review.

Short description:  After 4 years of development, Antichamber has arrived! Extremely creative and mind bending exploratory, first person puzzle game set in a seemingly simplistic series of interconnected chambers.

The Good:

• Extremely original, non-euclidean, Escher-like puzzles make for a truly unique gaming experience.
• Graphically appealing. Plain white walls with the occasional splash of color is a surprisingly fitting aesthetic for this type of game. The designer is able to pull your brain in all different directions playing with the color schemes.
• A sufficient challenge! For those that are complaining that games are getting too easy, you'll be happy for a change of pace with this one.
• Philosophical twist. The puzzles are accompanied by small philosophical phrases and cartoon diagrams to loosely guide you along. They oddly taunt you in the midst of a puzzle, but are all the more meaningful once you solve it.

The Bad:

• Little to no direction. Aside from small diagrams you find on the wall, the player is left up to their own devices to figure out what to do and where to go.
• Lack of direction can make some of the puzzles pretty frustrating until you have that “Aha!” moment.
• While sound does play a factor in the game, it's not overly prevalent. I would have liked to see a bit more done with the sound.

All in all, should you play this?

• If you’re looking for an original puzzle game that will twist your brain in very odd directions, I would recommend picking this up. It’s by far the most interesting game I’ve played so far this year, and rivals Portal for one of the most original puzzle games I’ve ever come across.

Here's a glimpse of what this game is like...

Quick Review - Darksiders

Game Name:    Darksiders

Developer:    Vigal Games

Publisher:    THQ

Platform:     PC/Steam (reviewed), X360, PS3

Genre: Hack-n-slash, Action, Adventure, Puzzle

Release Date: January 5, 2010

Short description: Third person, hack ‘n slash, puzzle, exploration, platformer where you play as War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

The Good:

• Fun hack ‘n slash combat with lots of combos to play around with
• Quality, Zelda-like puzzles to solve
• Good amount of content, I spent close to 20 hours with this game, and I can see myself spending even longer
• Inexpensive! The combination of THQ going bankrupt and this game being 3 years old makes for an excellent price.

The Bad:

• Backtracking becomes extremely annoying and time consuming.
• The secondary ranged weapons feel underpowered and more or less worthless in combat.
• The additional weapons you get never feel like they measure up to the sword you start with. I always ended up going back to the sword.

All in all, should you play this?

• Do you like puzzles? Do you like hack-n-slash? If you answered yes to both, play this game.