All logos and trademarks property of their respective owner. The comments herein are © their original posters. Reviews, News, Articles, and all the rest is ©2007-20XX John R.
Mr. Robot (Moonpod Software)
In the distant future, aboard the Starship Eidolon, space is the final frontier and a handful of willing humans are adventurous enough to embark on the long voyage in an attempt to explore and colonize far off distant planets. Due to the lenthy duration of such a mission humans are forced to travel while in cryo sleep, relying entirely upon robots and computers to navigate and maintain the ship while monitoring the slumbering humans health and life-signs until they reach their destination. These artificial life-forms perform routine and daily tasks and even maintain one another, that is until something aboard the Eidolon goes very wrong.
Mr. Robot starts off with the player taking control of an unlikely hero in the form of a maintenance robot named Asimov. Under the orders of Hel-9000, the ships highly advanced Artificial Intelligence, Asimov must investigate string of mysterious accidents and malfunctions aboard the ship. He quickly finds that these mishaps are not so accidental and are actually part of a much more grand and diabolical scheme. Along the way Asimov will interact with other robots, computers, and the various environments aboard the ship. Some robots will even join Asimov on his quest to find out the cause behind all of the problems, while others will try to interfere with his progress.
Even though Mr. Robot is a serious example of indie gaming greatness. There are few indie games like this that can merge elements from different genres into a cleverly crafted action/adventure/rpg/puzzle game and still be great fun. Alongside the great presentation is a story that is as humorous and inventful as it is engrossing and deep.
There are a ton of references to sci-fi culture which hardcore fans are sure to recognize and appreciate. On the other hand, those that aren't quite familiar with sci-fi will enjoy the story for being so elaborate because of the great fiction that it is based on, even if they miss out on some of the humor behind it.
The gameplay is made up of elements taken from numerous game platforms such as Action/Adventure, Puzzle, and RPG's. Even though the game involves elements from a few different genres it always seems to come together with a flare and style that feels just right and never disjointed or illogical. Controlling Asimov consists of mundane interaction such as talking to other robots, pushing a button, or flipping a switch. Through exploration and interaction, Asimov will encounter plenty of obstacles and puzzles that will require some logical, but fun, problem solving on behalf of the gamer. These are some great brain teasers that never become too frustrating and yet manage to stay part of the story progression. Walking, talking, pushing, pulling, jumping, etc. etc... they are all simple actions that are easy to pull off with your choice of either mouse, keyboard, or gamepad.
When observing the well designed environments and characters in Mr. Robot it's easy to forget that the game plays in a pseudo 3-D, top down isometric point of view. It may take novice gamers a little while to get used to but considering there is plenty of time to practice the controls and explore the ship this perspective never makes playing the game feel awkward.
The graphics are extremely sharp and detailed. Each of the games robot characters are so well animated that they portrait their own believable, sometimes creepy, or even silly personalities. The environments are equally well designed and lifelike in a futuristic sci-fi sort of way.
Music and sound fx take a slight back seat to the other elements, but are definitely high quality with suitable sfx like metal clanking, computers beeping and chirping, and automatic doors whooshing. The music is present throughout the game although it is somewhat light hearted and doesn't gain much attention nor does it distract from gameplay. It should be noted that the narration and music during the introduction are excellent and this small snippet of voice acting is of very high caliber, even if only short and sweet.
Each of the mentioned gameplay elements usually work well all on their own but in the case of Mr. Robot they all fit together comfortably to form a well designed, thoughtful, and interesting game with a charm and style that make for high quality gaming. On top of all this the full game comes with a great level editor that, with a little exploration and discovery, is not very difficult to use. So even after you've completed the game a player can create and share his or her own levels and adventures with other gamers around the world.
With that said, Mr. Robot is one indie title gamers cannot afford to miss.
Presentation
|
A+
|
Gameplay
|
A
|
Graphics
|
A+
|
Sound
|
B
|
Innovation
|
A+
|
Overall Score: A+
Although I did find the gamepad to be the most intuitive method for controlling Asimov, there were just a few moments that I felt the precision of my actions were slightly lower than I expected, but that may have been due in part to my game playing ablities. On occasion I found myself missing a jump or pushing an object a little too far. Even so, the controls are simple and work well with the games design and layout.
Combat is another large aspect of the game. Here the controls, although abundant, are turn-based and entirely menu driven. This makes for familiar and fun strategic combat that is truly reminiscent of old-school console RPG's such as Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior. In this case the futuristic setting, the technology, and interesting way in which combat takes place, give Mr. Robot it's own unique version of fighting. using items, and skill performance that make it feel like an RPG you have haven't played before. Other RPG type elements come into play in the form of leveling up your characters, equipping programs, hardware, and various technologies in place of weapons, armor, and special abilities.
