Light Matter Review

Who radiates light for darkness in response... Mila Waltz

Perhaps no one will argue with the statement that the Portal series of games is the best thing that has happened to the first-person puzzle genre. A lot has passed since the release of the last game in the series, and Valve is not blowing his mustache: there are not even the slightest rumors about the development of the third part.

However, from time to time other developers delight us with the release of masterpiece games. What is The Talos Principle from 2014 worth? The games of the QUBE and The Witness series from the author Braid turned out to be quite good. And now a new sci-fi first-person puzzle game is on the agenda...

The game was developed by Tunnel Vision Games . A small team consisting of five guys, whose company is diluted by a beautiful girl. Having met for the first time, the developers created a prototype of their future project lasting 15 minutes. Then it was called See You On The Other Side (by the way, this is the symbolic name that the in-game achievement associated with the game's ending received), and it's already readyohm form of adventure came out under the name Lightmatter .

The concept of the game is as simple as possible: light is life, darkness is death. The protagonist is an unknown person (yes, we don't even know if it's a man or a woman, a spy or an experienced visitor) who is trapped inside the huge Lightmatter Technologies complex. A company engaged in the study of "Light Matter" - an ultra-modern energy source designed to save humanity from extinction. But something went wrong. At first, a seemingly aimless journey through the complex develops into something more: a struggle between two scientists. And this is not a physical, but rather a moral confrontation. In the actions of Arthur, who is initially presented to us as the only evil, it turns out that there was a fraction of good intentions. And Virgil, trying to grab onto a saving straw, hides behind good intentions. In order to avoid spoilers, we will not say which of them is right and which is wrong. You yourself will perfectly understand this!

The main focus is on puzzles in which you use light sources to advance further while avoiding dark areas. Falling into the shadow means imminent death. ?On the other hand, a lot of attention is paid to the plot. It is served in small portions through a monologue by Virgil, one of the two founders of the company, and while listening to recordings from a voice recorder left by Ellen, a former employee of Lightmatter. The density of Virgil's monologues as he tries to help the protagonist get out of the complex is commendable: he won't let you get bored for a second. The jokes are simple, but almost always relevant.

The gameplay of the game is simple. There are 38 levels here (and not all of them have puzzles). And in each case, you need to go through the room, reaching the passage with a green exit sign. This will be repeated over and over. To light your way forward, you will have to use spotlights. Closer to the end game, a new mechanic will appear using photonic connectors that attract light from a source if they are in line of sight with it. Other mechanics are built on this: for example, to activate some buttons, they need to be highlighted. There was also a place in the game for platforming elements: in some parts of the complex you will have to rely on skill and reflexes.

Puzzles, as one would expect, become more complicated gradually. Every levelb represents something completely different or a more complicated version of the concept used in the previous room. But don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to say that the game feels repetitive somewhere. No, almost every room is something completely different, so you will not be able to lightly pass new levels only due to the experience gained in the old ones.

Long and winding corridors, rotating blades, doors, destroyed bridges - all this makes you think, look for places where and how best to place light sources. And if there are a lot of them in the room, then often you have to move them several times from place to place in order to get to the end of the hall. The player constantly has to go beyond the standard framework, and to get the perfect solution - to experiment.

In a game that tells about the confrontation between light and darkness, you should not expect bright colors and colors. A fairly limited color palette is used, resulting in high contrast. The visual style somewhat reminded me of the Borderlands series, but with a reduced color gamut. It is unlikely that anyone will blame the developers for the soundtrack. It doesn't really stand out from the background of the story or gameplay. However, at the moments when you will puzzle over where to place the nextvector or how to overcome a dangerous area with shadows, it will not matter. However, where it is needed, a relaxing or more rhythmic melody is included.

This undemanding first-person puzzle will appeal to fans of secrets and easter eggs. I managed to complete the game in one breath, while I did not find A SINGLE SECRET . Looking at Steam , I was surprised to find a dozen hidden achievements that I never managed to get through a banal passage of the story. This fact will encourage absolutely every fan of the genre to return to the passage of Lightmatter to find every secret.

The game has few downsides. Periodically, lags and friezes occur when moving from one room to another. Especially when an exit door opens or you're trying to run through a level on the fly. But otherwise: we have a solid adventure game that will appeal to fans of games such as Portal, QUBE, AntiChamber, Talos Principle, The Witness and so on.