Motorslice absolutely nails its presentation. I'm a big fan of the low-poly models combined with pixel-art textures. The environments have the same deserty ruined industrial theme, which may bore some, but I appreciate how it fully explores its one visual theme with enough variation between areas to keep things fresh. The game also has a fantastic sense of scale; you can often look into the distance to see areas you visited hours ago as you ascend this massive structure. The soundscape is usually quiet and atmospheric, with music kicking in at just the right time to emphasize when the game's pace picks up during combat and platforming gauntlets. The bosses act as giant moving jungle gyms that you climb while slicing through their weak points with you chainsaw-sword, with the camera zooming out at key moments to emphasize their size. The game camera physically exists in the world as a drone that the protagonist will make eye contact with and have cute interactions with in story cutscenes.
Motorslice has a ton of style, but what drags it down is the junk gameplay wedged in between its stylish moments. The vast majority of the game's runtime is dedicated to yellow-paint platforming. In the more handcrafted, linear sections, the player simply needs to press the jump button while holding the general direction of the next highlighted platform, pole or wall, and the game takes care of the rest. In the more complex or open-ended areas, however, you'll be constantly fighting the game over control of your character. I'd estimate the game can correctly realize your intentions about 90% of the time, with the other 10% often seeing you careen to your death. Basic movement options are also missing, such as a safe way to descend from ledges, or the ability to cancel a misinputted wall-run. Having played the demo before buying, I fully expected the game to require plenty of patience for this kind of jank, as not even the triple-A games which inspired it could nail this sort of semi-automated platforming. Yet the game was already wearing on my patience by the end of the third of eight chapters; it simply forces you to engage with it's flawed mechanics for far too long.
Compounding on the excessive runtime are the optional collectible orbs, which require completing more dangerous platforming challenges. I tried to find all of them at first, and while some of these were fun to grab, by the game's halfway point I was sick of constantly scanning to see if I had missed anything, wondering if the next jump would lock me out of getting an orb. I looked it up and it turns out there's absolutely no reward for getting them all. Given how much the game leverages its protagonist's appeal, you'd think these orbs would unlock outfits or something.
Occasionally you'll need to clear a room of enemies, which all go down in one hit. These sections are very easy aside from when you die to bad platforming or an off-screen projectile and have to start the whole thing over. Overall the combat does its job of providing a change of pace from the platforming. Actually, the enemies were best used late in the game, where slashing a flying enemy allows you to jump in midair. Chaining this move with wall runs to cross giant chasms actually brought some interactivity to the traversal, and was a suprise highlight for me.
Finally, the story is pretty sparse and mostly relies on the protagonist implying some vague lore during cutscenes. The ending is also pretty unsatisfying as it doesn't resolve any mysteries about the structure you spent the game climbing, The game feels like the first half of a complete story.
I still think the the game's full price is perfectly fair for the content, but the movement frustrations make it tough to recommend. Honestly this game's demo is the perfect vertical slice; I would only recommend getting the full game if you have a ton of patience.
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