Okay, let me start by saying this is going to be an easy review.  I could sum up Machinarium in about 5 words:  Beautiful, Atmospheric, Humorous, Fantastic, Fun!

There, that's it...   No that's not a proper review, let me elaborate.

Machinarium is an amazing new adventure game by Amanita Design.  You control the protagonist, an unlucky little robot with a big heart.  Our tiny hero starts off by being broken and banished from his Robot City.  To make matters worse, his girlfriend has been kidnapped.  His remains are flown out of the city in what can only be described as a flying garbage dumpster and then apathetically dropped into a trash dump on the outskirts of Robot City.

That's the beginning of the games story in a nutshell.  Your first task, to put your body back together and get back to the city.

The puzzles in Machinarium are brilliant.  They are built around observation and a type of thinking that would be logical within this vivid world of imagination.  At first they might not seem like conventional logic puzzles or problems that you'd find in your typical "point and click" adventure game involving fetch quests and inventory management.  However, Machinarium is the type of game that can easily engross ones mind into its own  unique universe.  When that happens it's easy to think like an inhabitant of Machinarium and see how the problem solving actually makes sense.  The puzzles themselves range from simple to challenging and usually end up having humorous solutions or consequential results.  Above all else the problems and their solutions are inventive if not unique.  The game does come with a hint "button" and even a built in walkthru (which uses a distinguishing mechanic of its own), but you should really try to avoid using them unless utterly and hopelessly stumped on a problem, because the experience as a whole becomes far more rewarding that way.

Machinarium plays great and looks even better!  This game is beautiful and that includes everything from the background art, characters, animation, and even up to the objects you interact with.  Normally games can rely too heavily on graphics in order to impress gamers.  Not here, Machinarium is equal parts graphical style and unique gameplay.  Most impressive though, is the amount of detail put into the environments and overall atmosphere.  There are few Triple A titles that can compare to the style and art found in Machinarium and that is because the look is consistent among all of the environments and each new room or area you enter is like another work of art.

Speaking of atmosphere, the music and sound fx are both beautiful and subtle as well.  The subtlety of the sound might be easily overlooked by gamers as they peer at the game gap-mouthed and intrigued by its amazing graphics but Machinarium is one of the few games that is made even greater by the sum of its parts and that includes both music and sound.  It would be hard to try and describe the music but it definitely brings an ethereal sci-fi mood to the game and the sound fx are both quirky and fun and even lend to the humor of the game.  An example of this would be during any of the many instances when our hapless hero falls from a great height or slips and stumbles over a bunch of marbles.  The sound is on par with enhancing the experience at the same level you might find in an episode of the 3 Stooges.  Can you imagine what it would be like if Moe, Larry, and Curly got into an eye-poking - slap fest without the glorious sound fx to accompany the monotonous beatings?  Neither can I.  Thankfully, I felt the sound was extremely effective in that same sort of way while the music was ambient and even mesmerizing.  The sound really complimented the game because it made playing the game a funnier, easier, and more relaxing experience even during the toughest of problems and puzzles.

Something else that I love about Machinarium is the fact that there really is no dialogue.  All of the inhabitants do communicate with each other, but everything they think or say is fully animated so there is no question as to their needs, wants, or even what they might be thinking.  The reason this impresses me so much is because it's an elaborate mechanic made simple that allows all gamers of any nationality to participate in the story and adventure.  The game uses a universal language that anyone could and should understand meaning even your relatives that don't speak the same language as you can enjoy this little gem equally as much.  I wish more adventure and even story driven games could somehow pull this off as successfully as Machinarium has.

The world of Machinarium feels as if it is alive and is a real treat for even the most jaded of adventure gamers.  I've played my share of adventure games but few have left such an impression on me.  Most of the other adventure games that I've really liked have had one, maybe two, things about them that stood out and stuck with me.  Not only do I love Machinarium as an adventure game but I was constantly impressed by how all of its elements work so well together.  It's not exactly a conventional adventure game, which is a good thing, conventional point and click adventure games are a dime a dozen with few exceptions.  Machinarium is a point and click adventure game that is in a league of its own.  Even if point and click adventure games aren't your thing, Machinarium might be the exception to the rule, attracting a different kind of gamer to the adventure gaming fold.  For it's quirky sense of humor, graphical style, interesting puzzles and mechanics, and the sheer scope of its original atmosphere, I can't recommend it enough!