Q.U.B.E.

Let's deal with this right out of the gate. Q.U.B.E is a 'similar' experience to Portal. Yes, it is a first person puzzle game. Yes, the game is set in a sterile, mostly white environment. Yes, there is a thank-you to Valve in the credits. For me, that is where the similarities end. There are no 'Portals' in this game.

Amongst the white blocks which make up each chamber, players will encounter and extrude special block in a variety of colours, each with its own properties. Red blocks can be pulled out from surfaces up to three blocks, blue blocks act as springs and yellow blocks can be used to create steps or stairs in a group of three. Players can also rotate sections of entire rooms and manipulate green blocks and balls that respond to the physics of the other blocks and the chamber itself. These are the basics, with other systems involving light and magnets amongst others coming later.

The people at Toxic Games did a fine job with the atmosphere here. This is a consistent experience with enough variety in the puzzles to keep things interesting throughout. New tools are introduced fairly rapidly and there is usually at least one tutorial section for each new element to help you on your way. Some may dismiss the sparse environments as boring but they compliment the setting and overall style of the game enough to be justified.

The music is ambient and enough to keep you focussed if not particularly memorable and sound effects are used well to indicate when blocks can and cannot be moved.

One slight criticism I have is the responsiveness of the objects you are interacting with. It can be frustrating in timing based puzzles when there is a slight delay between clicking on a block and it's movement. This is particularly true when you are tasked with turning the magnets on and off quickly to make subtle movements to the magnetic objects. Frustration levels increase dramatically when you can't actually see moving objects as you need to focus on a wall-mounted control button away from the action.

However, the major problem here is the short length and lack of ambition in the project. At around 2-5 hours in length depending on your skill. (I took around 3 hours to complete). Your time with Q.U.B.E will be short regardless of your enjoyment of the game. Also, with no other modes or options included replay value is going to be pretty low.

For a low-priced indie game, I suppose this could be forgiven but even so I think more could have been achieved here. There is practically no story or narrative at play; No dialogue, no other characters, no development of your character and most disappointingly, a very unsatisfactory ending.

Overall, this is a decent puzzle/platformer. It's just about unique enough to stand out and it does have a striking art style that initially drew me to the game. However, this potential is not fully realised and the lack of a narrative drive coupled with an anti-climatic ending really left me cold. If you like puzzle games, I would certainly consider a purchase. There will probably be enough in here to entertain, if only for a very short time.

LOOKS: 7/10

SOUNDS: 6/10

GAME PLAY: 6/10

VALUE: 5/10