Unmechanical

Unmechanical is a puzzle based game, released in August 2012. The game was also later ported to the iOS due to it's popularity on the PC platform. I am normally not a massive fan of puzzle type games like this as I just find my self aimlessly trying to figure out what to do for hours on end. Thankfully Unmechanical offers puzzles whilst challenging, but also offer a logical resolution to them unlike other games in this genre. You can often work out what you need to do on each puzzle within a few minutes of analyzing the surrounding scene. The puzzles can range from light reflecting puzzles, to memory puzzles. In fact, I have to say, I can't remember (ironic) the last game I played which had memory puzzles in, this game actually made me write notes down on a piece of paper in order for me to progress which again, is something which is commonly not needed in this day and age. The graphics and art style in Unmechanical are lovely. It has that mechanical look to it, with some really nice looking textures in the environment, and the animation of everything is just so smooth and faultless. Unmechanical also offers various endings to the game; which is something I only found out after I had finished the game. Thankfully you can easily access the other endings of the game due to the last save point being just before you make the choice so, allowing you to see them all if you so please. I wouldn't say Unmechanical is a difficult game as such, you can work out all of the puzzles if you think about it for a few moments, none of them have crazy resolutions that make no sense, and a couple of them are only skill based too. A playthrough from beginning to end of Unmechanical took me about five hours which is exactly the sort of length I look for in this type of game. I think anymore and it would start to feel drawn out more than it should. However there is no replay ability to it, as I said, you can easily access the other endings, and once you have done all the puzzles once, there is no need to play it again. Thankfully though, the prices reflects this, sitting nicely at £6,99 - which is just the right cost for a game of this length. I didn't have any technical issues whilst playing. Whilst the graphics look really nice, this game will be able to be played on pretty much any setup. I'll certainly recommend Unmechanical, if you aren't normally a fan of puzzle based games I would still recommend it, because I'm not normally a fan, but I had a really good time whilst playing. Hardcore puzzle fanatics may well find the puzzles to be a little too easy, but it's still worth the couple of hours of your time to experience this awesome game. [b][u] Tom's Score Card[/u][/b] 1) Stay away 2) Only recommended when on sale [b][u]3) Recommended[/u][/b] 4) Highly recommended 5) This is a must play If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up. You can also find more reviews over at http://www.completingthebackloggroup.com/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/211180

Falling down a pipe and awakening without a clue, Unmechanical sees you taking control of a little flying robot lost in a vast underground mine, as it travels through tunnels solving puzzles to open pathways in the hope of ever seeing the surface again. It's a brief, ambiguous journey that leaves a lot open for player interpretation (occasionally too much), but accomplishes a great deal through context and the brilliantly imaginative environment around you. I had no idea what I would be getting when I first started it up, but by the end was immensely glad I had given it a chance. The first surprise came in the form of the fantastic visuals, which put Unreal Engine 3 to use more effectively than I've seen from some AAA games. Gorgeous lighting, a creative and evocative art style, and some very clever use of cinematography make moving through the dark mines a beautiful affair. It also helps infer a lot of the narrative, that without any exposition is impressively well realized if you take the time to take it all in. I do wish the ending was a bit more substantial and obvious when it was coming, but being able to quickly reload and see both alternatives put them both in better context (even if they still feel a tad rushed). The second surprise was that despite my prior assumptions, Unmechanical isn't at all a standard physics puzzler. Instead, every puzzle is contextually placed throughout the world making them more meaningful and the world more engrossing, and avoids falling back on the same types of puzzles as each is unique to the area it resides in. None of them are particularly challenging or involved, but the way the all fit so well within the world and manage to loop back around to each other is brilliant, and shows a level or forethought by the developers that's often missed in a lot of games. My only real issue is that Unmechanical does a very poor job of conveying where and what you need to do next. Half of this is intentional, as it allows the player to discover things on their own instead of being spoon fed along a linear path, but the other half is simply poor design as paths are often obscured or off screen without any indication you are meant to go back and look for them. This mostly meant I had to rely on the hint system a good deal more than I would have liked, but even then it wasn't entirely effective at guiding me to the next area when I got stuck, which more often than not required me to stumble around and explore every nook and cranny until I found a tunnel I'd missed or a door that had become unlocked. Aside from that frustration, Unmechanical was remarkably enjoyable. Nothing about it is especially memorable, but I was engaged the entire time through and disappointed when it ended so soon. Though it seems to have flown under the radar for most, I hope that this isn't the last we see of Unmechanical, as for the developer's first major release the quality is already impressive and would likely only improve in a more expansive sequel.

A very sweet game. Puzzles can be difficult, but never overly frustrating. Achievements can be near impossible to get and some can't be gone back to once passed. Overall, a lovely game with just enough of a storyline to keep you hooked and make the choice at the end a tough one. I recommend using a gamepad, it makes all of the difference on puzzles requiring precision.

An interesting 2.5 dimension puzzle game. It did not take long to adjust to the environment, the controls are basic, and the physics are reasonable. I found some of the time-based puzzles annoying but nothing insurmountable. On first launch, choosing "options" started the game without the introductory video. The menu item worked properly after that. [h3]Additional Details[/h3] [table] [tr] [td]Operating System[/td] [td]Ubuntu Linux 18.04 x64[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]CPU[/td] [td]Ryzen 5 1500x[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GPU[/td] [td]GTX 1050, nvidia-440.64[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Game Saves[/td] [td]Automatically, frequently[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Notes[/td] [td]1 or 2 broken achievements[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Technical Notes[/td] [td]Would never quit properly (window would disappear but the process continued to run)[/td] [/tr] [/table]

Instinct tells me to call this a puzzle-platformer but due to our main character being able to fly with his little rotor-blade he never actually requires platforms and nor does he ever jump. Our robot character is equipped with a tractor-beam which he can use to move objects about his environment and the physics involved are really quite nice and feel accurate. https://youtu.be/SOGzgb_W4Sk The game isn’t very long, its maybe somewhere in the three hour range to complete. There are a couple of puzzles that might cause a few problems, one that caused me a problem was one near the end that I completely overthought. I started making a spreadsheet in an attempt to calculate the logic behind it. This wasn’t necessary, I just wasn’t thinking simple enough!! In general the difficulty starts easy and ramps slowly towards the end making it an extremely pleasurable journey. Due to this and combined with the nice feel to the game I can see myself replaying it. There is an extra DLC which seems to be included at no extra cost and provides an extra world to play. I have yet to test this part of the game. Graphics are nice and the screen zooms in and out depending on the environment or puzzle being attempted. Everything is nice and smooth with the game being made in Unreal Engine. The developers have managed to capture quite an excellent atmosphere throughout the game with a great selection of ambient sounds which at times border on actual music being played. The menu system is quite basic and doesn’t cater for higher resolutions than 1080p or advanced graphics settings. This can be changed in a configuration file (check the forums) if you need to. I played through on 1080p mode wishing I could play on my native resolution of 1440p and then discovered this workaround afterwards. Bleh!! I give Unmechanical a strong recommendation to anyone that enjoys puzzle-platform games. It’s a hidden gem that deserves a lot more attention!!

This is one of those games that's right up my alley. Cute little puzzler with no instructions that relies solely on your capacity to pick up visual and logical clues to solve the challenges. ...Allright, there's always the F1 key to give you a small hint, but the game rarely is too difficult as to require you to use it (plus you will miss out on an achievement as well... you wouldn't want to do that..) There might be a bit too much saving for my tastes, so that I always knew when I'd done something right. So subjectively, I never had a hard time with the puzzles, but solving them still felt rewarding. I somehow expected a little more out of the latter parts of the game, but the difficulty never really ramped up. I would have liked more physics-based puzzles, for instance. Maybe that is because of the overly simplistic game mechanic (only 1 action throughout), which limits the possibilities of interacting with the environment? I don't know. But then I think that it's allright, because I gained the impression that the game places more emphasis on the great atmosphere created by the setting and music than on the actual puzzle challenges. Stunning visuals and good effects, I like. I had a great time indeed from the get-go, which isn't necessarily self-evident with such a premise. I did therefore hope to get a lot out of it, but my first playthrough took me a bit over 4 hours, and the second one only about half an hour to get all the leftover achievements. Which somewhat is a shame, since I think this game has super potential. All in all, a great but short experience with little to no challenge.

小时候看的游戏风云然后就迷上这个游戏，现在终于补票了

The best part of this game is the design. The backgrounds, movements, puzzles, sounds, all add up to such a great experience. Add in the fact that the gameplay is actually pretty brilliant and you get one amazing hover robo puzzler. Flitting around as this little guy is too much fun. The levels progress in difficulty well, though the game isn't particularly hard. The design and controls do feel a bit like they were intended for a tablet. but it still plays fine on a laptop too. Definitely a good quick puzzler and the achievements add some replayability.

[h1] Short, sweet, and simple... [/h1] [b][u]Cons:[/u][/b] [b]- Short:[/b] Takes ~2h to finish on your first try and max 30min if you know what you are doing. DLC is even shorter; [b]- Pathing:[/b] Game sometimes require you to backtrack without clearly stating where; [b]- Story:[/b] There is none, you simply are trapped and are trying to escape. DLC is about love... [b]- Directions:[/b] Game gives you a lot of freedom to move, sometimes confusing you where to go next; [b]- FOV Change:[/b] Happens a lot (zoom-in and zoom-out), can cause motion sickness (movement speed change); [b]- Environment:[/b] There are many things that fill entire rooms, but only serve as decorations, which makes you waste time until you discover it's not actually a puzzle; [b]- Achievements:[/b] Some are simple, but some require you to replay the whole game, which is already linear; [b]- DLC:[/b] Has many elements that try to make you feel for the lover, but are slowing things too much -; [b][u]Pros:[/u][/b] [b]+ Simple gameplay:[/b] There is only one button to interact and stardard 4 to move; [b]+ Graphics:[/b] Pretty solid for old UE3, good animations, background looks pretty interesting, 2.5D style done right; [b]+ Music:[/b] Very relaxing suiting this genre of game very well; [b]+ SoundFX:[/b] Believable, indicates clearly when you are done with a certain puzzle; [b]+ Puzzles:[/b] Most of the time it's clear right away what you need to do, they are fun and very logical; [b]+ Atmosphere:[/b] Machine world is nothing new, but it still can look interesting if done right, which it is; [b]+ DLC:[/b] ...nonetheless, it is still interesting and perhaps has some of the best puzzles in the game. [b][u]Final thoughts:[/u][/b] Game that didn't get too much attention upon release. It was later ported to mobile phones and consoles where it got similar reception. Nonetheless, simple puzzles and mechanics make for an enjoyable one afternoon / evening game, without too much stress. Even though I noted many cons, those are still not as impactful as pros, so I would recommend this game to anyone that asks for a solid casual puzzling experience. [b][u]Score:[/u] 7.7 / 10[/b]

This puzzle game has very simple mechanics (move up, down, left, right, pull object) but surprisingly emergent gameplay. The game does not bog you down with an annoying hand-holding tutorial that many games have. You get straight into the game from the word go and pick up the game mechanics and interactions from situations in the game and good level design. Puzzles are clever in design and are not too challenging as to cause getting stuck for long. Graphics are good and the physics engine is more than adequate. My only complaint is that there does not appear to be much of a storyline, but hopefully that sorts itself out as the game progresses. I cannot wait to finish this title.