[h3]TELETEXT is a puzzle game skinned in retro style. Although it's marketed as the antiquated broadcast feature, it plays more like an early internet BBS, with mini-games, "live" chat, and pseudo-hacking. For puzzle lovers, it's sufficient, but incredibly short, and unlike the trailer might have you believe, seemingly finished (another game has already been released).[/h3]
[i]This review is intended to be purely informational, but since steam forces a side, choosing recommended on the basis of low price and moderately challenging if experienced blind.[/i]
TELETEXT is a commendable attempt at an encapsulated puzzle game, empowering the player to feel like a hacker diving into a derelict bulletin board. You quickly find missing files, password protected pages, and broken programs which, when resolved, reveal bits of lore and new clues to the next objective. The trailer mentions 4th wall breaking, but that's not entirely accurate, as all it amounts to is basic file manipulation. Ultimately, it's enough to keep you occupied for about two hours or less.
So the important question: Is it good? Kind of. In an attempt to avoid spoilers, here are a few things to consider prior to purchase:
[list][*]Very short - By this I don't just mean length. The entire game is around 25 or so pages of content and you quite literally have seen most of it when you begin. Although it gives you a "reading required" disclaimer, there isn't anything approaching an actual manual's length of material. Contrast this to real-life teletext services, which could have had up to 800 pages of content to sift through. That is to say, there was room to better develop the lore in this game which unfolds at break-neck speed.
[*]Un-intuitive controls - The game is stylized like a dial-up BBS, but tells you to use the mouse wheel and right and left mouse buttons. However, these functions don't behave like you'd expect. You can't scroll pages with a mouse wheel, and in most cases, you can't click between them either. You have to exit to the menu, and manually keyboard input a page or W/S scroll up and down a list to get there. This leads to some unintentionally obtuse solutions that want you to use your mouse when nothing else allows it. Even if that's intentional for the sake of being a puzzle, I wish the game had consistency: All keyboard, or all mouse, not one or the other when it's convenient.
[*]Choices don't really matter? The trailer advertises and adventure where your decisions have consequences. Having replayed this thrice for achievements, I can definitely say, no, they do not. There's only one end screen and no matter what you attempt to input into the few moments you have freedom of speech, it simply ignores anything but the answers it wants. There isn't any replay value here.
[*]Computer literacy required - The game is designed for people with some knowledge of DOS operating systems, executables, and BIOS menus. There's a potential risk for more casual gamers to become stuck without these; as long as you aren't afraid to click on everything and experiment, you should be fine. The final puzzle requires you to look outside the game to solve it.
[*]The Plot - Mystery and thrill seekers may be let down by the story to this one; It has tantalizing clues and something of a twist midway, but it falls flat in terms of resolution: It's left up to our imaginations to fill in the blanks, being given only brief images of things-gone-wrong and no definitive answers about the perpetrator's fate. To be continued?
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TL;DR: Recommended on sale, and only if you like PC themed puzzles.
[quote][u]Achievement Hunters[/u]: Fully guided. Note that two plays are required, since only one confession can be made in one run? Also, you may encounter difficulty replaying the game, if so, uninstall and delete the game folder before reinstalling. Leftover files may break elements by unlocking things too early. <1hr to 100%[/quote]
