Machinarium, now there’s an attractive Point and Click adventure that’s been showcased on the Apple App store a while. Unfortunately, it isn’t for everyone. While the quaint and charming art style will attract many, its difficulty level will put off more than a few (Even when offset by the games hints and answers mechanism (which should be applauded but falls short in making the game as accessible as possible).
Your adventure begins on a scrapheap on the outskirts of the city. Your mission is to save your robot girlfriend while disarming a big bomb and doing away with some baddies to boot. It’s a fun one, but the thin narrative loses steam easily with every puzzle roadblock and especially around the point where the world opens up about halfway through. By the time you race against the bomb’s count down timer, you’ll wonder where all the urgency had been hiding. To say the least, the adventure’s about the charming world, the music and the puzzles – not the flow of the story or building emotional attachment (though there’s a semi effective play on the latter via some thought bubble flashbacks).
Your adventure begins on a scrapheap on the outskirts of the city. Your mission is to save your robot girlfriend while disarming a big bomb and doing away with some baddies to boot. It’s a fun one, but the thin narrative loses steam easily with every puzzle roadblock and especially around the point where the world opens up about halfway through. By the time you race against the bomb’s count down timer, you’ll wonder where all the urgency had been hiding. To say the least, the adventure’s about the charming world, the music and the puzzles – not the flow of the story or building emotional attachment (though there’s a semi effective play on the latter via some thought bubble flashbacks).
Those puzzles! They’re very well thought out and intricate as hell. Learning to manipulate some can be difficult however. That’s because 'in game' hints can be cruelly subtle. There’s a hint option that will help you through but I’m thinking many will have to refer to the 'in game' answer book that can be accessed via a mini game. It’s a great way to do it, but more overt directions to solving puzzles could have improved success rates and players wouldn’t risk being taken out of the game as much trying to access the answer book to move forward.
Machinarium gets 4/5 stars if you like your Point and Click adventures but loses an extra star in accessibility for other gamers, myself included.
- Josh
Machinarium gets 4/5 stars if you like your Point and Click adventures but loses an extra star in accessibility for other gamers, myself included.
- Josh
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