Cube Factory is a mix of a Platformer and a Shooter game. You have to shoot and jump your way through the levels with the twist, that the players dies after every hit and has to restart the mission. The gameplay idea reminded me a lot of the game Ghostrunner.
Cube Factory manages to create a challenging difficulty through the one hit deaths and lack of checkpoints. You know that every mistake will be your last, but it also offers speedrun potential through this and it rewards level memorization and learning of patterns.
There was originally only a basic tutorial and 3 regular levels, but the game has been updated in the last months and received a much improved and longer tutorial plus an extra challenging fourth level. Cube Factory is overall a rather short game, even though it will definitely take some time till you can complete every level (this is especially true for level 4, which took me much longer than all other levels combined to clear). A couple of levels also have some hidden Easter Eggs, which were a nice addition.
Except for the default pistols and occasional rockets there are no additional weapons in the game, which could have brought a bit more variety to Cube Factory. The gameplay works fine nonetheless. More annoying was the fact, that walljumping doesn't always function perfectly (you have to press the same button for walking on walls and for jumping). Those occasions are rather rare, but since walljumping is an essential part of the game, it was still a bit frustrating. Movement is overall pretty decent, even though it can sometimes feel a bit floaty/slippery. A fellow Steam User compared it to walking on ice, which I find a bit too far fetched, but in air movement especially can definitely feel more floaty than in other games.
Level memorization also leads to recognition of enemy patterns and weakspots, which can be exploited to make your life a lot easier. After you were able to complete a level for the first time, it gets a lot easier.
The game uses a cel shaded visual style, which looks decent. That being said you can clearly see that the game is a smaller project and lacks visual quality in objects and enemy designs. The enemies are all some kind of cube-robots and occasionally there are also some friendly robots scattered around the levels. It is pretty difficult to differentiate them, since they look so much alike. I therefore nearly always shot the friendly cubes by accident too.
Pro:
+ Mix of Platformer and Shooter
+ Challenge through 1 Hit Deaths (Rewarding Level Memorization)
+ Movement is overall decent
+ Nice content updates (new and improved levels)
+ Hidden Easter Eggs
+ Speedrun potential
Contra:
- Rather Short Game (Very short after Level Memorization)
- Walljumping doesn't always work perfectly
- Air movement can feel pretty floaty
- Lack of visual details
Result:
Cube Factory is a fun game, that reminded me a lot of a Ghostrunner Prototype. I like the mix of Platforming with Shooting and the challenge of the one hit deaths. The movement is generally decent, but the walljumping or in air movement occasionally have some frustrating issues. The game is also rather short, even though the strong updates have certainly improved its length. I would recommend Cube Factory to fans of Ghostrunner or players, who like a FPS Platformer.
7/10
