In case you havenât noticed, weâre playing catch-up here at Kotaku. Reviewing some games that were missed in the run-in to the holiday season. Which is great, because it means I get a chance to talk about Machinarium.
Or, as I like to call it, the one game of 2009 that I managed to sneak into my honeymoon.
Machinarium is an adventure game where you play as a robot who must work his way through a robot world by solving a series of puzzles. If youâve heard the name before, itâs because weâve spoken of the game before, so hit up our archives for some trailers and concept art to get you up to speed.
Loved
Charm Your Shiny Metal Ass Off â The thing that first draws you to Machinarium, and perhaps leaves the most lasting impression, is the gameâs visual design. Part kidâs storybook, part Robo Story. Thereâs really nothing else like it out there, and it makes a pleasant change from your standard 3D-infused adventure title.
DirectEveryone â Machinarium runs in Flash. Itâs entirely 2D. Meaning it runs on practically everything, from Macs to ageing desktops to the lamest of netbooks.
Tap Your Shiny Metal Feet â As a puzzle/adventure game, Machinarium will leave you stumped at times, simply staring at the screen, doing nothing. Thankfully, this down-time is rarely a chore, as the game has an amazing soundtrack, courtesy of Tomas Dvorak. Ambient background music, chirpier stuff, itâs all great.
Robots Should Be Seen, Not Heard â Visually, Machinarium is a unique world. One that could easily have been compromised by sub-par voice talent. So Amanita Design smartly avoid this altogether, with the game containing not a single line of dialogue. Everything, from conversation to tutorials, takes place via animated thought bubbles, a cute solution to a problem that plagues many small-budget titles.
FAQ â Machinarium can be tough. Luckily, thereâs an incredibly elegant solution built into the game, in the form of a two-pronged hint system that gives you enough of a push in the right direction without totally spoiling the fun.
Hated
Echo, Echo, Echo â While for the most part the âemptinessâ of the world (for example, no dialogue) is part of its charm, there are moments â particularly when the game gets tough â that it simply feels empty.
Click Click Bloody Click â Machinariumâs hit detection could do with some work. The point at which the game recognises where youâre trying to aim is a little off, meaning youâll need to wiggle the mouse around sometimes to get the game to recognise where youâre going.
The adventure game isnât dead. And it doesnât have to be cartoony and episodic to be relevant, either. It can, as is the case with Machinarium, simply be a beautiful game world, into which puzzles breathe life.
Best part? Being Christmas time, Machinarium is currently on sale for $10, which will nab you a copy of not just this wonderful game, but another of the developerâs games, Samorost2, as well. Itâs probably the bargain of the year.
Machinarium was developed by Amanita Design, and published for the PC and Mac. Released on October 16, 2009, retails for $19.99. Completed game on both PC and Mac, and loved every second of it.
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