Gameplay
While all the above combined with the lack of any tutorial, may make Antichamber sound too complex for a game, the truth is that it isn’t. You’ll only need 10-15 minutes until you get in terms of how the game operates and what it requires you to do.
What helps in fully understanding Antichamber’s mechanics is that the difficulty in puzzles and mechanics advance in the most natural way, and even if you get stuck there are signs with iconographs which can be activated to give a hint on the upcoming puzzle; phrases like “We fall down when there is nothing there to support us” and “A few steps backwards may keep you moving forwards” are some of the signs that you will meet helping solve a puzzle but also manage to bring a wider philosophical meaning to the game.
Even with this hint system present what you should first and foremost do is to remove everything you previously knew about physics and ideas. You need to think about every option and try every possible way to complete a puzzle, in order to get past it.With each puzzle you discover, the map grows larger, while another wall is gradually filled with unsettling but clever sketches and clues that you uncover during your journey.
The tricky part of Antichamber is that the game always tries to screw with your surroundings in unexpected ways. There will be stairs that point up or down lead back to the same starting point, and rooms where four right turns lead you into a completely different area. Floors appear in midair, walls disappear before your eyes, and puzzles whose solution depends on which direction you are facing when traversing the level.
The positive thing is that very decision you make leads somewhere. Turned left instead of right at an intersection? The game will happily let you continue down this path for 20 minutes throwing puzzles at you as you go just to find yourself trapped in a room with no way out. Probably because you missed some really important clue or ignored all the really subtle warnings that you were going the wrong way.
In order to control various doors; that are found in your way you must use laser beams; these may either require the beams to be blocked or unblocked, and many doors require multiple beams to be in their proper state to open. Initially, the player can trigger these themselves. The game’s central puzzle mechanic however revolves around a gun of sorts, which allows you to lay small coloured blocks. You retrieve this a while into the game, and from here the puzzles get even more creative; the first form of the device allows you to collect and lay green blocks, which can be used to trigger switches, create steps, block lasers and more. There are however certain areas in the space are dead zones that remove any blocks stored in the gun or prevent blocks from moving through them.
This tool can be upgraded three more times, each time providing new functionality that allows you to go back to previous areas you’ve noted as being inaccessible, experiment and solve. Navigating to other areas is done at ease, just press the escape button and you are presented with the game’s map. At any point, you can jump back to the first room, and use the map to navigate to other areas. Upon completing a core set of puzzles,you can then access the exit door, upon which you start to chase down a black cloud-like shape, using all the solving techniques you have learned before.
A playthrough of Antichamber will require 10-12 hours of your time and a couple of hours more in order to fully uncover all the signs. The most impressive fact however is that many speedruns have appeared with the wold record locked at 4min 59 sec at the time of writing.
What might disappoint some gamers is the absence of any clue about the game as even if you finish the game you are not given any hint about the nature of Antichamper’s psychedelic world. We feel however that the lack of a scenario fits perfectly with the game’s minimalistic tone. It’s a plot about self-discovery and making progress, about learning how to overcome challenges and find your way through life’s confusions.
Conclusion
If you’re interested in puzzle games this game is a definite buy. There is no “story” but you won’t feel the need for one.This is first first-person-puzzler game to even come close, and possibly match, the brilliance and uniqueness of Portal.
This game displays such diverse conditions it’s never possible to predict what you’re in for next, half way through a puzzle you might think you have the hang of it only for the game to introduce an entirely different way of manipulating and navigating your environment.
New gamers will like how Antichamber forces one to experiment and think outside the box in order to progress, while experienced gamers will appreciate its subtle subversions of puzzle game tropes and how well it takes advantage of its non-Euclidean environment.
Antichamber is now available via Steam for 18,99€.
Gameconnect Rating: 9.0
