Platform: PC - Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
Title: Antichamber
Developer/ Development team: Alexander Bruce (Developer), Robin Arnott (Sound Design) and Siddhartha Barnhoorn (Music)
Release date: Jan 31st 2013
Genre: Logic/ Platformer
No. of Players: Single Player
Where to buy it: Steam
R.R.P.: $19.99 USD or your regional equivalent
Antichamber is an interesting little game that was released in January of 2013. The game has little to no story at all and the premise is simple, using critical thinking skills combined with straightforward platforming, you have to get to the end. The "logic" of the game as such is mind-bending and forces a lot of "out of the box" thinking. The difficulty of the game really depends upon how good the player is with solving puzzles and adapting to the rules of the world, and thus changes play-time. According to feedback on the website, it can take anywhere between 3 hours and 20+ hours. However, first playthroughs are never less than at least 8 hours due to the nature of the game and how hard the puzzles are after about halfway. My first playthrough took 30+ hours of on and off gametime, it's not a game that you can complete in one go. There are also little moral tidbits in the game that get you thinking about life. There are over 120 of these and they are all relevant in day to day life.
Aesthetically the games looks absolutely amazing, utilizing the Unreal 3 engine to such a full extent. The colours and textures of the game blend simplicity and complexity amazingly, giving a very unique look to the game that I have rarely seen before. There are no mirrors so we never know what the main character looks like, but the "gun" that he/ she uses looks marvelous. The complexity of the design is apparent, yet with a circular design it gives the illusion of being surprisingly simple as well, thus adding even more to the simple/ complex core that the graphics gives the game. The game is fully HD capable with a 1920 x 1200 resolution capibility. It also features a windowed mode but I have never been able to get that to work, the game ends up crashing every time I try it. There really isn't much more to say, the game looks fantastic.
The sound effects match the theme of the game, being semi-futuristic in design and layout. However, there isn't a large variety, so after a while the sounds throughout the game can easily get repetitive and increasingly annoying the more you play, especially the gun sound effects. The soundtrack in the game is amazing, it's the most calming and relaxing soundtrack I have ever heard in the game, and it really gets you in the mood and mindset needed to conquer the game. However, it's hard to appreciate the soundtrack since the music is very rarely played in the game, thus you spend most of the game in complete silence. This is a double-edged sword, as most of the time, when there isn't music it makes solving some of the puzzles incredibly easy. However, at times when there is music the puzzles can be a little bit harder to solve due to the rhythm being out of place in contrast to the puzzle. When it fits, it really fits. Like I said, the soundtrack is amazing and should be appreciated whenever it's in the game.
So how is the gameplay in Antichamber? Well... it bodes really well for the genre it is. The gameplay is incredibly easy to pick up and master, allowing you to focus on the puzzles throughout the game. Generally with a lot of PC games, especially PC ports, using a keyboard with a game makes the controls a bit iffy. This is most certainly not the case with Antichamber. There are few things you need to worry about controlling in the game, and thus keyboard integration is easy to do. The game knows what it wants you to do and it does this incredibly well. The game also allows you to skip entire sections if you feel that you have learnt a sufficient amount of gameplay mechanics to confidently continue. There's not a whole lot I can say about gameplay, it's incredibly simple and the keyboard integration is exceptional. I must emphasize though that there is NO controller compatibility from what I can tell, meaning that keyboard and mouse is the only option you get. You can decide whether to invert the mouse or not and change the sensitivity of the mouse as well, but leaving that on default is often more beneficial.
Overall the game looks amazing, the gameplay is solid, the music holds up really well and the puzzles are definitely mind-bending. The rules of the world suit what the game is going for and the game achieves it's seemingly sole-purpose, to get you thinking throughout the entire game. This is definitely a must-buy for those of you that are fans of the logic based genre and I can easily recommend it to anyone who just wants to have a refreshingly simple yet complex title in their collection. I give it a 9/10.
Overall rating: 9/10 - A must buy. An excellent game for those that prefer logic based puzzle games.
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