A solid game that has plenty of room to improve
The easiest way to explain Warp is the cartoony lovechild of Metal Gear Solid (1) and Portal. Warp combines the puzzle elements of Portal (but, replace Portals with Warping) and the top-down stealth gameplay of Metal Gear Solid. It’s an interesting mix that works well, to a certain point.
In Warp, you control a small, gelatinous alien named ‘Zero’, who has been captured by a group of scientists and has been dumped in an underwater laboratory. His mission is to escape the laboratory that he has been placed in and return to his home planet. The plot of the game is a pretty minor aspect of Warp but, Trapdoor have done a good job at giving the game it’s own character, the entertaining bits that the scientists come out with every now and then are a nice touch.
As you would expect, you spend a lot of time warping in Warp. Zero can warp through walls, warp into empty space, warp into objects and even into enemies and destroy them from the inside. There are also a number of challenge rooms and hidden objects strewn about in the world. You can seek out ‘grubs’ while traversing the laboratory and complete challenge rooms in order to earn points to spend on upgrades. These upgrades are not needed to complete any of the puzzles, you can complete the game without a single upgrade and not have any problems. You can also collect film canisters which let you take a look at a quick clip from the insides of the laboratory.
As the game progresses, the puzzles become more complex and eventually you will be required to weave in and out of deadly rotating laser beams, into and out of boxes to avoid deadly soldiers and across dangerous platforms which you need to navigate with pinpoint precision.
The main problem with the puzzles and the entire game is that the greatest challenge with puzzles is trying to account for and manage the problems that relate to the physics system in the game, which really managed to ruin the final act of the game due to the frustration that ensued.
Frustrations aside, if you do decide to buy Warp you will be pleased with the overall package. A strong puzzler with an interesting mix of stealth gameplay, along with a great sense of character and a few distractions from the primary goal (grubs and the challenge rooms). Your getting your money’s worth with Warp but, Trapdoor could have presented a package that has a better final impression if they took a step back and analyzed the final act of the game.
