Quantum Conundrum Review
Quantum Conundrum Review
By: Andrew Bohnenberger
Quantum Conundrum is a first-person puzzle platformer developed by Airtight Games and published by Square Enix. Kim Swift, who formerly worked at Valve as a lead designer on the critically acclaimed Portal, is the creative director of the game. Supposedly, Quantum Conundrum was the new IP that Kim wanted to work on at Valve instead of working on Portal 2. She has since left Valve and her next big IP has come to fruition. Does Quantum Conundrum leave the same impact that Portal left when it first hit the indie scene in 2007?
Story
In Quantum Conundrum you play as the 10-year-old nephew of Professor Fitz Quadwrangle. Professor Quadwrangle is a scientist whose experiments with interdimensional rifts that have gotten him trapped in another dimension. The player must venture through Quadwrangle Manor in order to rescue your Uncle from the other dimension. In order to do this the player must use the IDS or interdimensional shift device to solve puzzles in various rooms in order to reach the power generators that will allow you to reach the other dimension. As you venture through each room in Quadwrangle Manor your Uncle provides you with quirky dialogue and insight over the loud speaker. Quadwrangle has lost his memory so he tries to recall the exact events that led to his current situation. Each room in the house has a funny name that is a play on words using famous Pop References. One example of a stage was I Saw the Sine! If you are big into science jokes then you are in luck because they are scattered all over this game. I liked that Quadwrangle gave your clever hints at the right time as your solved the puzzles and that he taunted you during the game, similar to Glados in the Portal Series, whenever you made a mistake. I think unlike Portal though the writing was not as clever and memorable. Often Quadwrangle would tell jokes that just fell flat and became annoying when he repeated the same dialogue over and over even if you heard it before. It would have been nice if he said unique things based on the actions you took in the game more often. Overall, while the story was decent it doesn’t leave the lasting impact that Portal does.
Graphics
Quantum Conundrum is a good looking game. While it does not have the level of polish that you would expect from a Valve title, the Pixar like animated look really works for the game’s quirky vibe. The game was developed with the Unreal Engine and like Lollipop Chainsaw, this is a game that shows the immense diversity this engine is capable of with the right developer. I really enjoyed the level of detail when you shift each dimension, everything down to Portraits around the house that changed when you entered another dimension. One example is Quadrangle turning into a bunny in the fluffy dimension or dominatrix for the heavy dimension!
Gameplay
The gameplay in Quantum Conundrum is its biggest strength as well as its biggest weakness. At a surface level the game is structured very similar to Portal. You enter a room and you need to reach a switch in order to move on to the next room. You have a main mechanic and you are given smart visual cues needed to solve those puzzles using that main mechanic in order to leave that room. In Quantum Conundrum your main mechanic is the ability to use four different dimensions. The first dimension you get is the fluffy dimension. This dimension makes all items fluffy. You would often use this dimension to pick up safes and tables that you would use to solve the games various environmental puzzles. The next dimension you get is the heavy dimension. The heavy dimension makes all items heavy. You would use this dimension if you wanted to use safes that you needed to block laser beams or activate switches. The third dimension is slo mo which basically slows down time. The four and final dimension is reverse gravity which raises all items to the ceiling. The dimensions really work well together and need to be used in combination to solve some the game’s most challenging puzzles. I felt smart and I gained a sense of achievement when I completed each room thanks to the clever level design. The great thing about this game is the puzzles are all physics based so often the answer is right in front of you and you just need to execute. The biggest problem and greatest flaw of the game is indeed what you needed to do in order to execute. Most of the puzzles in the game require some type of precision based first person platforming. The problem being is that the controls are not precise and the puzzles relied too much on this platforming in order to solve the puzzles. Not being able to see where your feet would land became a huge issue in the game which led to many frustrating retries. Nothing is worse in a puzzle game then when you know the solution to puzzle and you fail to execute due to poor controls. I feel this game unlike Portal relied too much on platforming to solve puzzles than actually solving puzzles with the mechanics solely. I think this game had the potential to be another Portal but the level design stays consistently frustrating due to the fact that they relied on this need to be an expert first person platformer.
Features
For a $15 Downloadable game Quantum Conundrum is a great package. The game can take anywhere from 6-8 hours to complete based on your skill level. The game features dozens of stages and you can replay them as many times as you like to get achievements or for speed runs. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see a level editor for the Steam version of the game. I think like Portal this would allow this game to have infinites amount of replay ability. Hopefully there are future updates that include this and a community willing to create content for the game.
Conclusion
Quantum Conundrum is an excellent puzzle game and unique experience you won’t find anywhere besides Portal. It is an innovative title with great puzzle design. Unfortunately it falls short due to poor platforming controls and the puzzles that rely on it. Either way I could not recommend it more if you are looking for a game that challenges you in exceptionally different ways without killing things.
Score: 80%
Buy: If you like games like Portal and can withstand frustrating first person platforming sections.
Link
https://sites.google.com/site/not2nerdyent/Reviews/Reviews-2/quantumconundrumreview
