For example, you'll obtain a metallic mutt for the umbrella lady by moving a floating oil drum near the dog and luring it over with a few drops of the stuff. Most object-based puzzles are clever and intuitive. Environments aren't loaded with interactive knickknacks and your movement is limited, so this is rarely a chore. You can't just hunt for pixels, but you must maneuver your bot within reach of the interactive object. Machinarium often manipulates your monitor's real estate in this manner, and not only is this trick effective, but it also makes the fuller environments that follow feel even more spacious.Īs with most point-and-click adventures, your progress is hindered by a number of brain-busting puzzles, but Machinarium tweaks conventions enough to be fun even for adventure veterans. For example, in one section, the screen goes dark and you see only a few prison cells, which makes the scene feel claustrophobic. A few wonderful visual touches add extra poignancy. It's a simple journey, but the spirited protagonist is so lovable that every step closer to your goal feels like a big triumph. And then there's your own character, an unlikely hero seeking to be reunited with his one true love. A trio of street musicians toots and bangs on the corner, much to the dismay of the unhappy tenant in the apartment above. One woman (if she could be called that) protects herself with an umbrella while wheezing into a whistle, apparently seeking an unseen taxi. This isn't really a place you'd want to live, but it's a place you believe robots would want to live.Īnd what characters these robots are-expressing devotion, boredom, and frustration through deft animations and cute-but-sparse sound effects. A wonderful clinkety-clank soundtrack enhances the mechanical mood with its alternately tuneful and discordant strains. Aging brown buildings are weathered by jagged cracks and dull stains while distant leaning towers covered with rivets and antennas spew smoke into the atmosphere. Cobwebs stretch between winding pipes that lead to no discernible place and have no discernible purpose. A hulking guard coddles his inoperable teddy bear, seeking out batteries for his friend in front of an orange-hued industrial landscape. This world of rusting robots and intricate machines is drawn in clever, quirky strokes. It won't take you long to be drawn in by Machinarium's beautiful 2D visuals. In spite of a few missteps, such as a painful action-oriented sequence near its conclusion, Machinarium is a great game that makes an age-old genre feel fresh again.Īll these aging robots need is a bit of oil to feel young again.
Moreover, the puzzles that provide the bulk of the gameplay are excellent, and a few of the brainteasers are tough and clever enough to tax the noggins of even the most seasoned adventurers. These delights are further enhanced by enchanting visuals and quirky music that immediately provide a sense of place and personality. Yet in spite of their vocal silence, Machinarium's mechanical inhabitants communicate more effectively than many of the wordiest game characters, using often hysterical gestures and diagrams within speech bubbles to clearly establish their roles in the world. Nor, for that matter, does anyone else in this traditional point-and-click adventure game. Machinarium's robotic hero is one of the year's finest leading men: He's dedicated, resourceful, and oozes charisma-yet he doesn't speak a word of dialogue.
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