1. This is a first person game set in a science facility which has been rearranged as a series of puzzles. You have a gun that is not a weapon that you use to solve these puzzles while an AI speaks to you from on high. Can't think of a single other game like this. Nope.
2. Theoretically, if there were another game that was almost exactly like this that The Turing Test very obviously was inspired by, the biggest different between the two games would be this one is completely serious in tone throughout whereas the other game would be known for its sense of humor... if it existed, which it doesn't.
3. Okay, so the setup here is you land on some moon or somewhere and the scientists there have holed themselves away, out of reach of the AI that is supposed to be running the show. In between you and these scientists, there are a series of puzzles that can supposedly only be solved by a human. The AI needs you to pass the tests so it can get to the wayward scientists who, it is soon revealed, are fiddling around w/ some potentially disruptive technology--to put it mildly. The back story is mostly told through little bits and bobs you find around the facility you're in. You read a computer terminal. Find a notebook. Pretty standard stuff. The current situation is piped to you either by the AI or through messages from the human crew. Either way, this is a story that was mostly written w/o your involvement and you are just there to put the finishing touches on it.
4. This looks great technically. There's not really much in the way of open spaces to push your system but I'd be hard pressed to think of an indie game that looks better. Something about the setting just doesn't fit for me though. Things are too smooth looking, even things meant to look worn. It feels like a set piece on a stage rather than a real place.
5. This has the kind of score that seems to just settle in w/ the ambient sounds. In the time in between playing and writing this, I utterly forgot what it sounded like and had to go back and listen again but it does actually work really well in the context of the game. It is not meant to be the focus of your attention.
6. Like certain other games that don't exist, your primary goal on a moment to moment basis is to walk through a door. The central challenge here is to provide power required to open said door while still being able to access it physically. To do this, you have a gun that lets you move spherical power orbs, power orbs that are stuck in a little box you have to carry and a series of switches, disappearing platforms, moving walkways, cranes and so forth that all must be operated in an appropriate sequence. In short, it is a first person puzzle game.
7. This is moderately difficult but some of the puzzle designs feel a
bit sloppy. If you are from a parallel universe where games similar to
this exist, you will find yourself proactively trying to solve another
layer to the puzzle you are on only to find this next layer doesn't
exist and you've collected three door-opening power supplies when you
only needed one. This somehow makes what you actually had to do feel
less satisfying.
8. This is one of those games where it seems like the levels were designed by the developers in the order you run into them as a player. That is to say, the later puzzles are much better than the first ones. Early puzzles frequently have what I consider to be a cardinal sin in puzzle game design, which is the puzzle is simple to figure out but then the solution is difficult to execute. As you progress, this becomes less and less of a problem and the solutions to puzzles get more clever generally.
9. Midway through, you can transfer your consciousness to
and from various cameras and ro-bots to solve puzzles. The aiming
reticle you get when doing this is way too small and it drove me
completely bonkers.
10. I noticed the last few puzzles were noticeably easier than the ones just before them. I am not sure if this was intentional but it really worked for me as far as the games pacing. I hate feeling like I am stuck in the last few little bits of narrative right before the end of the game. The difficulty easing off as I reached the finish here, made me feel like I was making quick forward progress and I never felt frustrated wrapping things up.
11. A couple mechanics were either explained poorly or I missed them because I was huffing glue and drinking Sterno while playing. Please note that: a) you carry more than one orb in your orb gun and b) you can transfer an orb to a ro-bot if the rob-bot is situated such that its back is facing you.
12. This ends w/ what is supposed to be a moral quandary but it really seemed cut and dry to me what the right thing to do was.
13. This is the kind of game most people are going to be able to complete over a weekend and in the end that is its saving grace. Naturally, it is hard to call this game generic when no other similar game has ever existed but, you know, somehow this feels generic anyway. Everything about it from the graphics to the puzzle design to the music just feels competent w/o every really feeling compelling. If you'd like to spend some time solving puzzles while an AI speaks to you from on high, well, The Turing Test offers you exactly that experience and that is the only game I can think of that's like that.
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