Review: Machinarium
Written by Giang Cao   
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 05:55
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A picture speaks a thousand words in the point-and-click adventure Machinarium - which is perfectly fitting as the game has no spoken dialogue. Not only does the game communicate through its meticulous scenescapes, but also through characters' mechanical gestures and funny diagrams within thought bubbles of robots. All of this is portrayed in a wonderful hand-drawn, illustrative aesthetic. It's gritty and hazy while still having the warmth and charm of being something lovingly hand-crafted and laboured. A clickity-clack soundtrack plays in the background, reverberating its steampunk visual motif.

Since this is my first foray in the puzzle point-and-click adventure genre, I can't really compare how the puzzles fare against other games. As a beginner, Mechanarium's puzzles feel intuitive, requiring careful logic, patience and common-sense. I rarely felt the need to click on every pixel in frustration. That's not to say that Machinarium is always so straight forward. There will be some puzzles that will test the limits of your brain.

If you do get stuck, the age offers help through its two-tiered hint system. The first one offers an illustrated hint of your general objective; the other offers a full guide of the level, but it's only unlocked after you complete a side-scrolling shooter mini-game. You'll need to complete a level of the shooter each time you ever want to look at the answers, so it's a smart move by the indie developer to discourage players heading straight to the run-through.

Machinarium is quaint, beautiful, difficult and lovingly created - pretty much what a good indie game should be. While there have been plenty of point-and-click adventures in recent times, I don't think any stand quite up to Machinarium's charm and presentation. Difficulty aside, I can easily see this as becoming a sentimental favourite for point-and-click enthusiasts while newcomers will be won over by its unmistakable style.
Comments (2)
onionsaregross
...
written by Russ Crandall, February 03, 2010
great review. how many hours do you think the game lasts?
giangc
...
written by Giang Cao, February 03, 2010
I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing ballpark-8 hours.

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