Unmechanical

 
Developer: Talawa Games
Steam Release: August 2012
Hours Played: 4.1
Similar To: Bob Came In Pieces / Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet / OiO / Tales From Space
Rating: 4/5 Parsnips



GAMEPLAY
We all know that a decent platform puzzler mustn't be so easy that we rush through unchallenged nor be too difficult that we're checking a walkthrough every five minutes. Umechanical may be a fail in the choice of title but it does hit the target sweet-spot with its gameplay. You control a dirty metal can with small straggly legs and a propeller attached to its head to helicopter around. The environment is a huge underground cave where you first negotiate through plain rocks and water but where you then graduate to tunnels, drains, laser beams and advanced machinery of varying kinds with various switches to press. The only ability you have, besides moving around, is to lift and drop things. Your objective is to find your way out by overcoming obstacles and solving puzzles. 


BALANCE & PACE
This involves lots of lifting and placing things in the correct places along with lever pulling that sets machinery in motion and a further variety of tasks. Challenges are varied and generally pitch-perfect bringing a warm feeling of satisfaction when solved and a cool sense of achievement. There is a certain degree of exploration from time to time requiring you to search around a bit but there is always an interesting purpose behind it and this rarely gets tedious. You will also have to stop to think things through logically now and again - and you may even get stumped a couple of times but you're generally kept busy and pro-active in a good way. There are barriers scattered around which you can pass through but which inanimate objects cannot, and when traveling through drains the game gives you X-ray vision so you can see through the casing.

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

As the experience takes place in caves and laboratory-type environments underground, the lighting is quite dark creating a cavernous feel. However, there are plenty of glowing orbs, bulbs and other sources of light. Your main focus will be on the tin-can you control which has lights that could be construed as eyes and a nose. This anthropomorphism gives your bulbous robot some character and you can almost feel the bumps yourself as it knocks into things. The soundtrack is ambient and your robot whirrs happily away as he travels around. There is an abundance of machinery so expect plenty of industrial-type sound effects.



PROGRESS SYSTEM
Apart from the start-screen with its options to tweak the sound, graphics and full-screen mode, Unmechanical does away with menus entirely. There is no level-select screen to replay areas so you're restricted to either rejoining your game from where you left off or starting a new one. This actually works fine for those into single-player gaming as the game is a good romp to play from start to finish but means there is only one profile which can be annoying if you'd like others to experience the game for themselves. Furthermore, you are not given any indication as to how much of the game you have completed.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed playing Unmechanical and with puzzles that are varied and inventive, would recommend it as solid platform-puzzling nourishment. I visited a YouTube walkthrough about three or four times for this game which shows it pitches its puzzles at just the right level; not too easy or overly challenging. Apart from the coloured wheel section, I kicked myself that I hadn't worked it out for myself; another clear sign of a good game. It compares well with another spectacular platform-puzzler that is unavailable on Steam that goes by the name of OIO proving, to me at least, that it's well worth the investment of time.