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18 August, 2015

The Talos Principle Review

Just when you're ready to love Croteam's puzzler, something will give you cause to hate.

A love-hate relationship is defined as interchangeable or concurrent feelings of both love and hate in a relationship. Croteam’s The Talos Principle, a narrative-driven, first-person puzzler that is about as existential as it gets, will certainly ignite these conflicting emotions. Furthermore, if it doesn’t make you question life as you know it, the fact that it was inexplicably developed by the same folks that brought you the hyper-violent Serious Sam series should.

The Talos Principle is often touted as the spiritual successor to Portal, which got a lot of people, including me, excited. It begins with Elohim - a disembodied voice that declares itself Creator - waking you and prompting you to walk the path to enlightenment, promising ascension to a higher realm of existence for your compliance in completing its will. The only thing missing is cake, so in many ways it does come across as nothing more than a re-skinned Portal.

The handful of similarities to Portal (turrets and lasers to name just two) will regularly force comparison of the titles, and while this often results in The Talos Principle coming off second best, there is enough uniqueness to it, both good and bad, to allow Croteam’s philosophic game a place to stand on it’s own.

In stark contrast to the clinical testing chambers of Aperture Laboratories, Elohim’s alleged creation has many tranquil and beautiful levels to explore, ranging from sandy desert ruins to snowy mountains, all supported by the power of Croteam’s self-made Serious Engine 4. The levels are definitely one of the game's best assets, improved more so by the relaxing music that constantly plays as you progress. However, no amount of scenic vistas and complimentary audio is enough to prevent the migraines that will inevitably develop.

Redirecting lasers and using Companion Cu... ahem, I mean, “hexahedrons,” to weigh down buttons are hardly revolutionary mechanics. The puzzles themselves are well balanced, and aside from the occasional head scratcher (likely caused by your own stupidity but still nonetheless desperately infuriating), there is a small degree of satisfaction to be gained after beating each test of your worthiness.

As you puzzle your way through the seemingly endless array of challenges that the game throws at you, you’d be forgiven for getting the feeling you’ve done this all before, because The Talos Principle suffers from what I like to call “The Lord of the Rings effect.” That is, continuing long past expectation, even without taking into account the optional challenges. In the case of puzzle games, the more the better is usually my preference, but only if there is something about them that keeps interest alive. This is where things almost begin to stumble, as The Talos Principle would fail if had to rely on the warm-fuzzies you get for beating a puzzle as the pay-off to motivate you to keep going. Thankfully, the part of the game I love the most is there to pick up the slack.

The beautiful worlds within The Talos Principle are second only to the story that plays out beside it. Croteam has crafted a very intriguing narrative using a combination of audio logs and emails - which allude to an impending catastrophe upon the human race - and dialogue between you and a seemingly sentient computer program called Milton.

The beeping computer that indicates the highly sceptical Milton is up for another chat quickly became my reason for continuing along Elohim’s Path to Enlightenment, in spite of Milton’s warnings to disregard the booming voice. While these conversations weren’t as frequent as I would have liked, they were just often enough to keep me wanting for more.

The Talos Principle will also more than satisfy any craving you have for video game Easter eggs. Featuring references to Portal, Papers Please and none other than Sam “Serious” Stone to name a few, there are plenty of treasures to be dug up in Elohim’s worlds if you’re willing to put in some hard yards.

If a psychologist were to observe me playing Croteam’s philosophical creation, they would no doubt yield some fascinating observations. But, in spite of the rewards for playing being few and far between and the challenges often ending with a rage quit to give my brain time to recover, The Talos Principle is strong enough to stand on its own and a worthwhile addition to any Steam collection.

Grab the game here.

Writer:
Liam Allan

 

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